Helser Hall student representatives have put into motion a plan to separate Helser from the Union Drive Association.

Some Helser representatives are claiming Friley Hall has a history of discriminating against Helser and are attempting to remove Helser from the UDA senate.

The “last straw” was the UDA senate’s refusal to fund part of the cost of T-shirts for the planned “Helser Pride Week,” said Scott Siepker, president of Livingston House in Helser.

Bryan Kissel, vice president of Livingston House in Helser, said the event was planned to boost morale in the hall.

“We asked that just a dollar per shirt be contributed,” Kissel said. The request was denied because the event was sponsored in Helser and did not include other UDA halls, he said.

“We made it clear to everyone that all of UDA was invited to the program. But that didn’t matter,” Kissel said.

Toby Meyer, UDA senator from Friley’s Bennett House, said the request to fund the T-shirts was denied because it was deemed a poor use of money by the senate.

He said the senate did agree to fund a portion of Helser Pride Week events and members of Helser are blowing the senate’s decision out of proportion.

“This is really jumping the gun,” Meyer said. “We need to slow down and see what’s going on.”

He said the idea of a Friley-Helser rivalry was ridiculous.

“Somebody’s got delusions of grandeur to be going this far already,” Meyer said. “As far as I understand, this is the only type of real turmoil that’s come up.”

Siepker said this is not the first time Helser has been overlooked.

“Friley outnumbers us in [UDA senate] votes,” Siepker said. “Even if we vote unanimously, we can’t get what we want.”

Kissel said Helser is often neglected because it is going to be torn down in the near future. The older students of Helser are in a unique situation because the Department of Residence is pushing to have freshmen students live in UDA, he said.

“Even though our building is being torn down and we’re not all freshmen involved in community service, we deserve a little clout,” Kissel said. “[Helser has] the thickest sense of community in any of the dorms.”

He said there has been a lot of support for the movement in both Helser and UDA Suite Building 1.

“It’s almost like a people’s movement,” he said. “The students are really passionate about what we have been doing.”

James Van Bruggen, vice president of Helser’s Brown House, said he has talked to Suite Building 1 representatives who have expressed interest in the movement.

“If Helser’s going to leave,” he said. “[The suites] are going to go with us — they feel they’re out-voiced [in the UDA senate].”

Siepker said UDA is in a transition stage and the suite building should have its own government to deal with the unique residence hall.

“I think the time has come for this to happen,” he said.

Kissel said he is looking into the constitutionality of the separation and Helser representatives are getting feedback from Helser residents on the movement.

“We’re thinking progressively,” he said. “[If separated], Helser would have it’s own constitution and board, and so would the suites.”

Kissel said a separate Helser would not have to report its actions to UDA and could act independently.

“It is a much smoother idea without the UDA,” he said. “We wouldn’t have the faux student government set-up that slows down the bureaucratic process of dorm life.”

Van Bruggen said he and other Helser representatives are taking a wait-and-see approach.

“We’re not totally closing off the idea, but we’d like to see what they can come up with before we go along with it,” he said.

Meyer said he did not believe the movement has enough support to go far.

“Unless [Helser representatives] get lots of pull from the people in Friley, I honestly don’t think a lot is going to happen with this,” he said.

Kissel said there’s little Friley can do to stop the movement.

“[For Friley] to say we can’t do something is kind of a silly statement,” he said. “With or without consent, there’s really not much they can do about it.”

The Department of Residence does not get involved with student government affairs, said Kate Bruns, the department’s communication specialist.

“If the students wish to do something different, that’s within their power to do,” she said. “We’re not going to tell them they can’t.”

She said the residence department encourages student government to solve problems on its own.

“We support whatever the decision the students want to make,” Bruns said. “In an advisory capacity, we’ll be glad to help them with their new structure, if they decide to do that.”

UDA President Jennifer Erwin said UDA is working with Helser to resolve the conflict.

“Our community is changing,” she said. “With that change is going to come bumps — this is a bump.”

There is no precedent for this type of situation and Helser would lose its voice in UDA and other residence hall organizations if it separated, Erwin said.

“[Helser has] a lot of grievances,” she said. “Some of them might be justified — a lot of them aren’t.”

Erwin said the senate is trying to pursue other avenues to resolve the conflict.

“We will get through it,” she said. “We are a family, we are going to fight — but I hope it does not come to Helser leaving.”

Even if the senate were to back down on the T-shirt issue, Kissel said the bigger issues in Helser need to be resolved.

“Had there not been fuel thrown on this fire, it might not be burning as big as it is now,” he said.