Macalester Students Vote to Remove Organization

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Macalester College students have decided to cut ties with a student advocacy organization that's active on six other college campuses across Minnesota.

Student activities fees pay for Minnesota Public Interest Research Group staffing at each participating campus. Although students at Macalester can decline to pay that fee, many say it's too easy to miss the emails explaining how to do so. Nearly 60 percent of students who voted this week said the school shouldn't renegotiate its contract with the organization.

Macalester students automatically give $6 to the group each year unless they opt out, and then the money goes to the student government. MPIRG Executive Director Ryan Kennedy tells reporters that roughly 10 percent of students decide not to allot the portion of the student activity fee to the organization.