Yesterday the Student Government Association assembled in the Pere Marquette Gallery in DuBourg Hall for its annual Chartered Student Organization funding meeting. In a grueling session lasting long into the night, SGA hammered out the distribution of student activity fee fund among Saint Louis University’s more than 70 student groups.
The Finance Committee had already reviewed funding requests from each CSO and arrived at a “suggested allocation.” It was the senate’s duty to approve the Finance Committee’s suggestions and to hear requests for additional funding from student groups.
SGA chaplain James Veltrie, S.J., began the meeting by praying that senators would have “wisdom, discernment and good judgment” in the decisions they made that night.
Administrative Vice President Teresa Gabhardt urged senators to consider each request for additional funding responsibly and fairly.
“Please give equal time to every group. Don’t grill a CSO that is near the top of the alphabetical list and then pass easily over a group later in the night,” Gabhardt told senators.
Before the senate began deliberations on the financing bills, SGA President Cari Johns took a moment to sign the endowment for Upperclass Scholarships. President-elect Evan Krauss and Finance Committee members Joe Cirillo, Jack Coatar and Charles Flint also signed the endowment, which will assist high-achieving sophomores, juniors and seniors to pay for their education at SLU.
“Today is an exciting day because we sign the Upperclass Scholarship. This has been a dream of our organization for years,” Johns said.
The senate passed a significant majority of the 74 financing bills in omnibus form, only “pulling out” 19 for further consideration.
Among the bills passed in the ombinus vote was a nearly $150,000 grant to the Student Activities Board. The senate also gave $13,833 to SLU TV and allocated $16,135 to SGA’s own internal budget.
The senate rejected an amendment introduced by Senator Tim Cosentino to increase funding to SLU’s chapter of Amnesty International by $450. Julie O’Heir, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences representing Amnesty, explained that her CSO needed additional money to sponsor events organized by other campus groups. She cited Una’s performance of The Vagina Monologues earlier this year as an example of an event that the group sponsored.
Members of the Finance Committee responded that they were generally opposed to giving student organization money that would simply be transferred to another CSO. Financial Vice President Cirillo said that giving a CSO money for sponsorships amounted to handing out slush funds. The senate agreed with the Finance Committee and voted down Cosentino’s amendment.
The senate passed an amendment that gave Alpha Phi Omega an additional $1,504. The service fraternity will use the money to pay for participants’ lunches during Showers of Service and Make a Difference Day.
“These events are a hard day’s work and can include manual labor, so students who volunteer deserve a lunch at the end of the day,” Academic Vice President Elle Hogan said.
The senate also granted a request from the Black Student Alliance for an extra $5,000 to pay for a keynote speaker during Black History Month and a request from the Club Field Hockey for $450 for new equipment.
The Honors Student Association left the meeting empty-handed. The Senate refused their request for $650 to pay for the Honors Happy Hour and a social meeting at the start of the fall semester. Gabhardt pointed out that all the money HSA requested could be acquired by levying a fee of less than $2 on the group’s members.
The senate also approved a bill that named Lisa Udofia as next year’s chief justice on the Student Conduct Board. A committee made up of Johns, Krauss, current Chief Justice Meggie Fox and Student Conduct Board advisor Gina Ferrara nominated Udofia. A junior studying criminal justice and communication+, Udofia will begin her duties next fall.
