Student Activities staff questioned leaders of the Public Affairs Committee on Israel Tuesday afternoon regarding the legality of their recent meetings with members of Congress to discuss the relationship between the United States and Israel.
Student Activities Coordinator of Governance and Leadership Andrew Toczydlowski e-mailed the club's president, Jackie Grill, wanting to know whether or not the group was lobbying members of Congress as a Student Activities-recognized AU group.
He said her group — which is known by the initials AUPAC — would have to stop doing so as an official AU group because AU is classified as a nonprofit organization under the IRS. This classification limits what AU and its student groups can do politically.
Grill said she received an e-mail Tuesday afternoon and met with Toczydlowski that day. Grill said she told Toczydlowski members of the club were visiting Congress as AU students, not as members of a Student Activities group.
Members of the Public Affairs Committee on Israel visited the offices of six senators on Sept. 15 to inform and advocate to them about the relationship between the United States and Israel, The Eagle previously reported.
Grill believed part of the confusion came from AUPAC’s initials.
“’PAC’ is usually associated with a political action committee, but we are a public affairs committee,” she said. “While a PAC donates to candidates, we don’t even have a budget at the moment, so we clearly can’t donate to candidates.”
AUPAC hosts workshops on how a student can set up meetings with their legislators, and Grill said she feels these meetings are the most effective way for a student to advocate for the U.S.-Israeli relationship.
But AUPAC does not require its members to meet with legislators in Congress or the Senate, she said.
The newly established student group, AUPAC, will work with Student Activities in the near future to more clearly define their role as a political advocacy group on campus, Grill said.
Grill hopes students will continue to advocate on the Hill for major political issues.
“As long as we can be students, and students can be advocates,” she said. “That’s all that matters.”
jryan@theeagleonline.com
