A divided Associated Student Government Senate spent almost six hours Wednesday night awarding additional funding to some student groups and striking down the appeals of others in the first round of the spring-funding process.
Senators began with an amendment pool of $47,561.71 to dole out to 42 student groups or co-sponsorships, which all had the option to appeal their original funding recommendations from the Student Activities Finance Board. At the end of the marathon meeting, $16,321.71 remained in the amendment pool for the 10 groups that were not heard.
Last week the SAFB recommended the allocation of $870,000 from the Student Activities Fee among the 42 groups. The meeting gave dissatisfied organizations the opportunity to request additional money from the fund.
Erica Williamson, ASG financial vice president, called senators’ changes “very consistent.”
“I commend senators for paying attention and putting in long hours so groups can put on programming with the money allocated,” said Williamson, a McCormick junior.
Although senators decided to grant eight student groups a total of $31,240 — $10,000 of which went to A&O Productions for its Spring Quarter ball — other groups’ requests were voted down after contentious debate.
A&O was the night’s biggest winner. With its added allocation, the group now is slated to receive almost 29 percent of the total funds available in spring funding.
A&O Chairman Natasha Little said she was pleased with her organization’s final sum, even though the group asked for $2,800 for performer catering that went unfunded.
“We are very happy with the $10,000 we got,” said Little, a Communication junior. “I feel like that was a reward for the hard work we did this year.”
Alternative Spring Break leaders also left the meeting satisfied, as their group, which was recommended to receive about $600, left with $5,000 more. Although some senators argued that the group spends most of its funds on off-campus trips, the appeal was approved.
Another contentious decision was the allocation of $1,000 to Northwestern Community Ensemble for a Fall Quarter concert — even though the group was found guilty of financial misconduct earlier this month. Groups such as the Asian American Advisory Board and Peace Project, on the other hand, were not awarded additional funding.
Although some members of SAFB spoke against giving NCE additional money following the group’s recent financial misconduct, senators voted to dole out $1,000 as a compromise after two previous attempts by the group for more funds. The ensemble now will receive a combined $15,336 for the Fall Quarter concert and their Winter Anniversary event.
Some groups were not as happy with the outcome of their appeals, partly because of the money given to NCE.
Peace Project leaders argued that their relevance to campus in a time of war necessitated more funding, but SAFB members countered that the activist group already had received a substantial increase from last year’s allocation.
AAAB Chairman Alan Fu said he was disappointed his group did not receive $4,825 for a Fall Quarter event even after organizing Margaret Cho’s successful April 2 comedy show. Fu was upset that a financial misconduct levied against AAAB more than two years ago was mentioned during debate.
“For the last three years, we’ve been trying to live down that event, but we can’t because SAFB won’t let us,” said Fu, a Weinberg senior. “For them to bring up our financial misconduct from three years ago was inappropriate and offensive.”
Ten student groups, including CaribNation, Hillel Cultural Life, South Asian Students Alliance and the Dolphin Show, that were not heard will be able to appeal at next week’s meeting.
