This week’s Student Government Association meeting began with an important clarification.
“Every student that receives the [Martin Luther King Jr.] Scholarship will receive a minimum of $13,000,” Vice Provost of Division of Enrollment Management Boyd Bradshaw said.
Bradshaw and Assistant Vice Provost and Director of Student Financial Services Cari Wickliffe attended the SGA meeting to discuss what has been going on with the MLK Scholarship.
“The MLK program is very important to what we do in enrollment,” Bradshaw said. “I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
The committee that oversees the MLK scholarship met recently to review the structure of the program. According to Wickliffe, this is being done with every scholarship program that SLU offers.
Due to a misunderstanding, not every committee member left the meeting satisfied with the direction the program was taking.
From this, a rumor started that the MLK scholarship was being reduced from a $13,000 to a $3,000 package.
“I can understand why there was concern,” Bradshaw said. “So we called the committee back together and sat down and talked about it.”
The MLK Scholarship is becoming an award that can be added to any merit-based scholarship. Prior to its restructuring, a student who received the MLK scholarship package, which is $3,000 plus the $10,000 University Scholarship, who was also eligible for a merit scholarship greater than $10,000, had to choose between the two packages, as he/she could not receive both.
Now, the MLK scholarship is becoming a stackable sum of $3,000, which can be tacked onto scholarships such as the Dean’s and Provost awards. With this new plan, it is possible for a MLK scholar to receive more than $13,000 in scholarship funds.
“We wanted to give the students more money,” Bradshaw said. “And we’re very excited about the diversity of the pool this year. We have over 200 applicants coming in for the MLK weekend, which is a record for us.”
Wickliffe went on to explain how the program was being reformatted for maximum retention rates, while still being able to provide for students who truly need financial aid. She also clarified that the number of students receiving the scholarship will be 50, and that current MLK scholars will not experience any change.
Next, SGA President Michael Harris and First Year Senator Chris Ackels gave a presentation on their “Fixing the Little Things” Initiative.
They explained their website and discussed how senators need to respond to requests within 48 hours, and make sure they are forwarded to their respective departments.
Harris made it clear that “Fixing the Little Things” is about more than just facilities complaints.
“This is really for any kind of concerns that students have,” Harriss said.
Vice President for Financial Affairs Robert Moehle brought up the issue of funding for Greek organizations.
There was little agreement about how to differentiate funding for academic versus social organizations, and whether or not the topic should be an issue.
“Social Greeks don’t want to be chartered, and academics still need funding,” John Cook School of Business Senator Samantha Morr said. “It would make more sense to cut club sports over academic Greeks.”
Both the proposition of an Earth Hour and the chartering of SLU Jews were passed with little opposition, but the proposed amending of the bylaws faced some heated discussion.
After an amendment regarding the price tag of speakers brought in by organizations, the bills were tabled until next week.
The final bill discussed was a call for SLU to develop a more definite protocol and response to incidents of discrimination and bias on campus. The bill was met with an overwhelming amount of support and passed unopposed.
