Associated Student Government set aside $500 for funding of B-status student groups, allocating $390 of that amount to four student groups at Wednesday’s Senate meeting.
The four student groups were The Northwestern Flipside, Happiness Club, International Student Association and the Rotaract Club.
ASG wrote the names of all B-status groups on a whiteboard and asked if each group had a financial request.
ISA was allowed to join the list of B-status student groups even though the group did not submit their application for funding on time, said Lauren Masterson, ASG student groups vice president and Weinberg junior. The Rotaract Club was also added to the list despite the fact the group’s application was lost.
The funding portion of the meeting started with Masterson explaining to the Senate that the Northwestern Red Cross Club was not given money for an honorarium because she said they planned to use that money as a gift for their speaker, who was an NU professor. She said the SGC cannot grant student groups money for gifts.
The Northwestern Flipside asked for an extra $50 to print more copies of its publication. Masterson said ASG previously decided to fund half of Flipside’s financial needs, so the rest of it should be supported by advertisements. Although she did not support providing the group more money, the Senate passed the motion and the publication received the $50.
The Happiness Club was allotted $20 for Play-Doh. This request was originally rejected, Masterson said, because the club reported the Play-Doh was for “internal use” only, and SGC cannot fund internal uses.
The representative from the club said the Play-Doh will be offered to students outside the group during the upcoming Happiness Week, so the Senate voted to give the club $20.
ASG President Victor Shao was not granted the $100 he requested for a banner for Camp Kesem. Masterson said the SGC typically does not grant student groups money for banners. Masterson also argued that if the senators voted to grant this money to Camp Kesem, that would allow other student groups to ask for more money for publicity.
ASG members also noted that because the camp occurs over the summer, the funds would not be available to all NU students.
ISA was granted $150, half of its total request, to fund movie rights, rope for a nightwalk and publicity. Masterson said the SGC would grant this group half of the requested funds because it did not submit its application on time, but noted ASG has “a strong history with ISA.”
Shao said the Senate could not fairly satisfy ISA’s total request.
“It shows that the Senate sees that the rules are important,” the Weinberg junior said. “The senators vote on merit instead of political reasons.”
The Rotaract Club was granted $150 for a speaker and $20 for publicity. Ani Ajith, ASG speaker of the Senate, said the funding meeting was “efficient.”
“I’m proud of the new senators because they ask the right questions and followed the rules,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “They were very fair, equitable and transparent.”
Other items brought up in the meeting included three proposals from ASG Vice President Brad Stewart: one to make the diversity commission a committee, one to create a sustainability committee and one to create a working group about “alcohol policy and culture.” The Senate did not vote on the proposals.
