The EMU Student Government Business and Finance Committee allocated a total of $3,508 to student organizations and $2,238.58 to club sports during its last meeting for the semester on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
Last month, Senators voted to give no funding to club hockey with the condition that Director Mohammad Aggour would meet with Josh Davenport, hockey president, to discuss the sport’s large price tag and how they can fundraise on their own.
Treasurer Spencer Poscente said that because of this meeting and the team not getting the funds from that meeting, they are now behind on their bills.
“Because of [the lack of funding from the previous meeting] we are late for our previous ice bill, so I was told to ask for double the amount that we would be able to [receive], which I know you have a max amount so really I am just asking for the max amount,” Poscente said.
The Business and Finance Committee would only be able to allocate 7% of its budget as a max amount. This amount for club hockey would be $2,238.58.
Student Sen. Nick Galluzzo asked Poscente if the team is actively looking for additional sources of revenue besides Student Government.
Poscente said they are holding a tournament event at the rink in January but doesn’t know the details for the event. He also said the team is actively seeking sponsorships and ways to fundraise such as dine-and-donate events.
Essentially, club hockey will be asking for 7% of the budget each allocation meeting.
Sen. Marisa Salice said she supports giving the team the entire 7% this meeting since they didn’t receive funding last time.
“I would be in support of allocating them seven percent of the budget just because I know that we wanted to not allocate them any money at the last meeting just because of your meeting with the president but after hearing that they are obviously late on bills and Student Government should give enough money as we can to support them,” Salice said.
Sen. Reid Scott agreed with Salice and supported providing this ceiling amount.
After a unanimous vote, club hockey was allocated the full $2,238.58.
Poetry Society Vice President Dary’us Bell came to request $2,651 as more funding for their event: The Color of Drums.
“We came last time (last allocation meeting) and received $2,000. We did do one of our fundraisers and we did receive $500 for it and that was enough to cover some of our costs but we still need the remaining half,” Bell said.
The event will take place on Jan. 17, so the organization can attend more allocation meetings before the event. Therefore, Senators voted unanimously to amend the amount in question to $1,500.
This amount was voted on and passed with five yeses, allocating $1,500 to the Poetry Society.
Southeast Asian Student Association President Anna Pathammarong said she is asking for $1,308 to fund the third annual SEASA Culture Night.
“In the past it’s been very successful, we’ve had over a hundred attendees. We have a dine and donate planned for the second or third week in January,” Pathammarong said.
Senators voted to amend the amount to $808 since the organization has more time to fundraise and more opportunities to come back and request additional funding from Student Government.
This amount passed in a unanimous vote and was allocated to SEASA.
Kings of Color Treasurer Johnnie Session III said the organization had a miscommunication with Aggour about the allocation forms and tried to attend the meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 3 but couldn’t until this meeting. The organization’s event, however, was held on Monday, Dec. 9 and the second part of it was held on Tuesday, Dec. 10.
The committee typically doesn’t reimburse organizations but Aggour waived this bylaw for them. The other Senators however, felt as though this would set a bad example.
“It does worry me about setting that kind of precedent and how it kind of makes us look,” Scott said.
The committee moved to amend the amount to $250, which would cover the event held Tuesday, not the previous one.
The amendment passed with three yeses and two no’s. This amount was then voted on, passing with the same vote.
Campus Inclusion Intern Emma Kretchner came to request $1,450 for Hillel.
Kretchner said this is the only Jewish support group on campus and that she can “count the number of members on both hands,” meaning this group is important to those members so that they have a safe place and group to confide in on campus.
Hillel is hosting Dr. Irene Butter, a Jewish woman who survived two concentration camps. She will speak about her experiences and how the community can work together to combat anti-semitism.
“She usually charges $5,000 to speak but gave us a deal for $1,000,” Kretchner said. “This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Aggour said that Student Government, according to its bylaws, are only allowed to allocate up to $500 toward a speaker that would be upwards of $1,000, so the most the committee could allocate is $950.
Senators felt as though this was an important event and voted unanimously to allocate $950 to Hillel.
The budget for student organizations is now $25,492.41 and the budget for club sports is $29,741.17.
