SGA slashes program funds

The miscommunication between Una and the administration occurred after the request to invite Valenti was denied. Due to Una’s inability to follow the protocol of the policy, as well as oversight when admitting students to “The Vagina Monologues” and “The SLU Monologues,” funding for Una’s student activities by the Student Government Association fell short of what had been expected.

According to the Performance, Presentation and Speaker Policy, CSOs are required to submit a request 20 days prior to the date of the event through the Program Planning Form. Araujo said Una confirmed with Valenti a date which she discovered had a conflict with programs already scheduled. Araujo said she still hoped that the Department of Student Life would still consider Una’s request, although a set date had not been determined.

Una and Valenti agreed upon April 13 as the date for the keynote, and Araujo submitted Valenti’s biography and reasons to invite her to SLU to LaTanya Buck, the program director in the Cross Cultural Center, on April 5.

“[Valenti] allows insight into rape culture that we may not be able to distinguish. We at Una also hope that she will bring in a number of students who may not attend such an event,” Araujo said to Buck.

Buck said that because Una submitted the request approximately one week before Valenti’s scheduled date, there was not enough time to prepare for her visit.

“After careful consideration, I communicated to the group on April 6 that their advisor, who was out of the office attending a professional conference, myself and those I report to do not have enough time to research content, review and plan for a national speaker within less of a week’s notice,” Buck said. “I also communicated that the contractual process takes time and needs approval beyond our staff, and without ample notice, we were unable to accommodate the group.”

Buck, therefore, said she decided not to submit Una’s request to the Department of Student Life.
Una, a feminist group, is responsible for holding “The Vagina Monologues,” which are held off campus, and “The SLU Monologues,” as well as other events and programs involving feminism at SLU.During SGA Annual Funding on April 9, the Finance Committee denied Una funds for the Monologues.

“We felt they had broken their word,” Senator Jimmy Meiners said on behalf of the Finance Committee, although he individually had voted in favor of Una. “It was supposed to be a free show.”

SGA decided in the 2009-2010 fiscal year that funds for the Monologues could be granted to Una through Student Activities Fees only if students were not charged for admission.

“Donations can be collected, but any student who wishes to go for free should be able to,” the report for Annual Funding states. “If students are charged, funding will not be given.”

Meiners said Una did not abide by this rule during the past two fiscal years when given funds for the Monologues.
This past year, Una distributed tickets to the Monologues, charging suggested donations for admittance. All proceeds were to be given to charity. However, some students said they thought paid admittance to the Monologues was mandatory and did not realize it was actually a non-required donation.

It was because of the supposed misrepresentation of ticket promotion for the Monologues and Una’s inability to plan properly for a guest speaker, Meiners said, that the Finance Committee determined that Una’s request for $11,175 could not be given during the 2011-2012 fiscal year. Instead, Una was allocated a total of $682.

For the past two fiscal years, Una was granted approximately $12,000 in Student Activity Fees. Programs like the Monologues, which cost roughly $4000, will be cut from the upcoming year, unless Una can fund them.

Alexander Salazar, also on the Finance Committee, said that he felt a decision not to fund Una would only hurt the University community.