After hours of deliberation, the Associated Student Government Senate allocated $5,000 to 14 student organizations Wednesday.
Established in Fall Quarter, the New Student Organization Support Fund allocates $5,000 per quarter to student groups with a Student Organization Finance Office account that have been active for less than two years.
Organizations requested funding for various needs, including event catering, sports equipment, security for speaker events, performance venues, transportation and a program to educate students on combating overdoses.
Student groups received various amounts of funding ranging from $50 for NU’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom to more than $1000 for Starlight, a new student group functioning as a music label for students. Other groups that received funding included the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at NU, the Housing Security Collective, and the Sociology Collective.
Weinberg sophomore and Outdoor Volleyball Association President Connor Smith said his club will be using the funding on new nets, balls and line markers for tournaments.
“By expanding the amount of nets that we have, we will not only be able to benefit the current members of our community, but also keep growing our community to allow more students to play with more courts,” Smith said.
Student group representatives described their requests, after which senators evaluated the merits of the requests and determined how much money to allocate.
Criteria used to evaluate requests included necessity, lack of alternative funding and due diligence, according to a document used to train senators for Funding Senate.
Many groups did not receive the full amount of funding they requested. Though senators allocated $5,000, the lower bound of requests from clubs totaled over $8,000 and the upper bound requests totaled over $11,000.
“We were asking for (funding for) transportation, which I know is difficult in front of ASG, but they were really kind and very understanding of our circumstances,” said Weinberg sophomore Elizabeth Crawford, a graphic designer for All In, a group that volunteers at a free healthcare clinic in Chicago.
ASG’s Student Activities Finance Committee announced its initial allocation decisions for the 2024-2025 academic year Tuesday. The Senate will hear appeals from student group leaders to receive additional funding from a $50,000 pool Wednesday.
The Senate also heard a proposal to establish a residential Pride House for LGBTQ+ students and passed two resolutions proposed at last week’s meeting — one of which would introduce more pass/fail language classes and another which would create a liaison group between health-focused student organizations and the Student Health Service.
Weinberg sophomore and Rainbow Alliance Senator Zenobia Jordan co-authored the legislation to establish a Pride House, which would replace the empty Phi Mu Alpha fraternity house.
“Northwestern does say that they are committed to serving the needs of queer individuals, they want to help them and benefit them, but I think if they truly do want to benefit them, this would be a great way to start,” Jordan said.
Weinberg sophomore and Speaker of the Senate Grace Houren said senators were thoughtful about how to allocate funds on a limited budget.
“I feel strongly that the senators were well-prepared and they really thought through their decisions and asked good questions,” Houren said. “And I think the allocations were pretty well distributed.”
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