The Associated Student Government Senate allocated $16,227.60 in funding to new student organizations at its Wednesday meeting in Harris Hall.
Just two groups’ allocation met their lower bound request. Northwestern University SnapShot!, a photography club that asked for $48, was the only group to receive its upper bound request.
Every quarter, ASG provides money to new student organizations that have been active for two years or less through the New Student Organization Support Fund. The ASG Senate’s Spring Quarter NSOSF meeting hosted representatives from groups to pitch their funding requests to senators.
On Wednesday, student groups’ requests totaled $36,474.51 in lower bound funding — the minimum amount each group felt it needed — and $50,384.91 in upper bound funding — the maximum amount needed. The Senate had $16,227.60 available to allocate.
Some groups were provided funding amounts closer to their target amount than others.
The NU Women’s Wrestling Club requested $3,534.69 for its lower bound to cover gear and competition costs, allowing five members to compete in regional tournaments. But the club only received $1,125.11 by the end of the night, even after it received an additional $400 in the “add, cut, add” portion with leftover money.
Weinberg first-year and ASG Parliamentarian Xander Hampton, who recused himself from his role to speak in favor of the club, said the club has been struggling to flourish for a while.
“The men’s wrestling program has been D1 for a long time, and it’s taken (NUWWC) four years to even get to this point, to even exist as a club,” Hampton said. “I want to make sure that this club has the ability to give resources to girls who want to wrestle here at Northwestern.”
Similarly, the NU Barbell Club asked for a lower bound of $5,432 to cover various costs, including a mock meet. The organization ultimately received $495.
Open Democracy Undergraduate asked for a lower bound of $3,500 and received $1,100.
Reel8 Productions, an organization that creates unscripted videos, received enough funding to cover its film equipment at $1,350.
While the funding allocated to NU’s newly-formed chapter of the Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists’ Association did not meet its lower bound request of $2,463.90, its final amount of $2,100 was not far off.
Medill senior and AMEJA founder Sam Habashy, a former Daily staffer, said she was excited that ASG senators understood the need for an organization that provides opportunities for student journalists of her background, including the ability to travel to conferences, similar to other affinity-based groups for journalists.
“If you’re Arab or Middle Eastern in Medill, you don’t have access to those resources,” Habashy said. “I think the senators saw that this would be really helpful for anybody who’s looking for that community.”
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Student Association and NU APIDA Pre-Law Association received their exact lower bound requests at $795 and $316, respectively.
Weinberg sophomore and Wildcat Animate co-President Lucia Rodriguez Agusti said currently, she pays out of pocket for several animation software subscriptions, so funding for more subscriptions would give more students in her club the chance to try out professional softwares.
“We are truly the only organization on campus that offers the service,” Rodriguez Agusti said. “And we really just want to expand it to as many people as possible.”
Some clubs received funds below their lower bound request but still enough to cover some of their events and supplies. The NU Muslim Business Student Association received enough funds to purchase chai for some events, but not for everything else.
SESP junior and Speaker of the Senate Nur Yalinbas said some clubs had failed to meet the “demonstrated due diligence” of sending representatives to show up, present and advocate for themselves.
For this reason, ASG senators voted to provide no funding to Art Union or the Data Science & Analytics Club, despite the former requesting a lower bound of $1,262.61.
“In the past, we have said zero because other student groups have showed up and put their time and effort, and they’ve been here for the past three-and-a-half, four hours presenting and waiting,” Yalinbas said. “These two clubs did not show up.”
The ASG Senate will meet again on May 27 for the Student Activities Finance Committee appeals Funding Senate. There, it will allocate money to student groups requesting additional funding on top of regular SAFC allocations, which will be released later this week.
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Email: [email protected]
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