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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 25th, 2014 UW-MILWAUKEE SANCTIONS STUDENT FOR EXERCISING RIGHT TO PETITION AND ASSEMBLE — STUDENTS’ CIVIL RIGHTS ATTACKED BY UWM ADMIN; MOTIVE APPEARS TO BE CONTROL OVER $23 MILLION IN STUDENT FEES — MILWAUKEE, WI: Flagrant and ongoing violations of civil rights continued this past Wednesday, Aug. 20, when the legitimate President of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Association, Mohammad Samir Siddique, was convicted of non-academic misconduct for organizing a new student government. Intimidation and coercion of students by members of UWM Administration and extralegal administrative directives continue to define the aftermath of former Chancellor Michael Lovell’s May 2013 illegal decision to dissolve the UWM Student Association in retaliation against elected student leaders asserting lawful authority over segregated fees with the intention to decrease them. Siddique stated, “[the petition organizing a new student government] was in response to what I believe to be continued ignorance or deliberative contempt of Wisconsin state law by UWM administrators.” The non-academic misconduct committee rendered a decision that sanctioned Siddique and demanded that he complete an array of tasks in order to be allowed to maintain student status. One of the conditional sanctions set forth by UWM forces President Siddique to either publicly renounce his title and abide by restrictions on his speech and expression, or else face an indefinite administrative hold on his student account, which would, in effect, restrict him from ever registering in classes. “The sanction consists of both compelled speech and a continuing gag order which blatantly violate my freedom of speech,” said Siddique. He has written to the UW-System Regents seeking an appeal of the decision. “The first step is to find out where they want me to appeal. The decision contained no notice of any appeal rights.” More than 1,300 students signed an April petition that Siddique helped distribute to organize under a new student government and to hold elections free from extralegal administrative interference. In contrast, the weak administration-created student government that currently has the full support and recognition of UWM Administration is based on votes from just 242 students in a referendum emailed out to all students with the subject “Vote Yes UWM!” on the first day of the Spring 2014 Semester, a referendum in which the UWM Administration disenfranchised almost 1500 students. To demonstrate the discrepancy between the two groups, less than 1% of the student body supported the student government recognized by then Chancellor Lovell, while the group that Siddique supported and participated in, which was not recognized by Lovell or his successor Interim Chancellor Mark Mone, gained the support of approximately 5% of the student body. “It could not be more obvious that Dr. Lovell dissolved the Student Association in retaliation for assertive management of student fees, which is guaranteed by Wisconsin State Statute 36.09(5),” Siddique recalls: “We made sound budgetary decisions in the spring of 2013 that were then ignored and changed without notice by Administration, and the students are bearing the costs of this continuing illegal increase in fees. It seems as though the Dean of Students Office and Student Affairs continue to manipulate the student voice by propping up their own student government, with a weak constitution written by staff to give Administration semi-direct control over fees. The motive of administrators seems to be control of policies, facilities, and approximately $23 million in student fees. Annual segregated fees total $1,300 per full-time student, up from $1006 in ‘11-’12, $726 in ‘05-’06 and $461 in ‘96-’97. Between fiscal year 2013 and fiscal year 2019, by UWM's own projections, segregated fees are projected to inc