BY DAVID INGRAM / Staff Writer

Finally, an SGA president who knows what they’re doing.

In a bold move Monday, newly inaugurated SGA President Lauren Hayes signed off on making the Student Action Network provisional status as an on-campus organization.

For the past three weeks, the Student Government Senate has taken up the issue of whether to grant provisional status to the Student Action Network.

The Student Action Network, led by graduate student and military veteran Mike Mulvaney, is a student organization standing against the Iraq war.

Members have been peacefully protesting for years against the Iraq occupation and when their first Senate appearance came up for a vote, senators denied the group provisional status as an on-campus organization.

Fielding a bit of minority campus outrage that a group was denied seemingly because of their one-sided views, the Senate took up the group the next week.

In a vote of 20-9 at the March 10th Senate, the Student Action Network was approved and sent to President Lauren Hayes for signature.

The College Republicans, headed by Chandler Harris, clearly thought having a voice on campus that wasn’t conservative would somehow damage the image of Auburn University.

The SGA listened, and in the correct move of wanting all voices to be heard, allowed the College Republicans to publicly refute and embarrass themselves by making a last-minute attempt to convince Ms. Hayes the Student Action Network would not serve the best interest of Auburn University and the more than 24,000 students.

At Monday’s Senate Special Meeting, the crap hit the fan. Hard.

The College Republicans were given five minutes to Ms. Hayes and the Senate to block the Student Action Network from expressing its right as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

Mr. Harris, seemingly prepared, was also prepared with a lot of tricks out of the Republican playbook, saying multiple times this was not about the First Amendment.

I’ve read the First Amendment, the rules of Auburn Student Government and the platform of the Student Action Network; I can tell you this is nothing but about the First Amendment.

The rights to freedom of speech, the press, religion and the right to assemble are principles this country has held for more than 200 years.

Why would the College Republicans want to block a group from expressing their opinion?

Because this group of College Republicans are what you can call “crazy neo-cons.”

I never thought Ann Coulter could look tame. Or Rummy like Lauren Elizabeth Wiygul.

Apparently so.

I want to make it clear I am not referring to all members of the Republican Party or those who consider themselves conservatives. I am referring to the College Republicans of Auburn University and their distasteful approach toward hoping to make a dead end to free speech.

After the Republicans made their argument, and it was an interesting one from several interesting viewpoints, I knew the decision of Ms. Hayes would have an impact on all Auburn students.

Many accuse Student Government of not doing anything, not listening to students or wasting of time and money.

Not anymore.

This Student Government has shown it is a body that listens to all students and takes all into careful consideration.

Ms. Hayes addressed her statement Monday to the “Auburn family.”

It was an interesting choice of greeting. She could have said, “Auburn students,” “Subjects,” but instead she used a line consistent with what had just happened.

The word “family” accurately describes the events of the past few weeks.

Families get into fights, debates and often disagree, but at the end of the day we are all here for the common good of the University we all believe in.

Although it should have never gotten to this point, the Senate, Vice President Tori Bray and President Lauren Hayes, after a bumpy start, handled this with respect to all sides and upheld Auburn’s commitment to diversity.

David Ingram is the Editor of The Auburn Plainsman. You can reach him at 844-9021.