In the wake of criticism of the Student Activities Commission’s new funding guidelines, the Georgetown University Student Association will try to start a fund to allocate money to student groups independent of SAC. The “Fund of Second Resort,” which GUSA’s Funding Board will vote on this Monday, is designed to provide money to clubs who propose major events mid-year, after SAC, which funds most clubs and activities on campus, has approved its annual budget.
“GUSA wouldn’t be sponsoring anything that wouldn’t normally receive access to benefits under University policy,” Speaker of the GUSA Senate Eden Schiffmann (COL ‘08) said. “We won’t be funding H*yas for Choice or anything that SAC has banned.”
Senator Zach Bluestone (COL ‘09) said that currently groups that want SAC money or benefits for a major event that they think of in the middle of the year need to wait almost a year to get that funding. According to Bluestone, in 2006 Relay for Life couldn’t get Access to Benefits status and had to piggy-back on Ailing Mothers and Fathers to receive funding.
Another project that did not receive funding was one organized by members of Rangila, who decided to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for homeless people as a bonding project. They needed between one and two hundred dollars for supplies, but when their treasurer approached SAC, they were denied the funding.
“SAC commissioners viewed it as a donation to a charity, which SAC isn’t allowed to do,” SAC chair Sophia Behnia (COL ‘09) said.
Rangila members eventually secured funding for the project through donations from a fraternity at George Washington University and other groups, according to the treasurer of the South Asian Society. But Behnia said that if GUSA begins funding clubs, it will confuse club leaders.
“They’ll be like, do we need to ask SAC and GUSA?” Behnia said. “If we don’t get everything we want from SAC, can we go to GUSA? I’m wondering if they’re trying to co-sponsor more activities or if they’re trying to be a second funding organization which isn’t allowed under school policy.”
SAC has recently been criticized by several club leaders for standardizing their funding guidelines at the beginning of the year. Erika Cohen-Derr, the Director of Student Programs, said that when SAC commissioners wrote guidelines at the beginning of the year, hardly any of its policies changed.
“All we did differently was write it down,” Mark Russo (COL ‘08), a SAC commissioner, said.
But Jeff Carlson (COL ‘08), SAC’s former comptroller, said that in order to standardize the way they allocate funding SAC thoroughly questions clubs that propose events, and groups must go through much more red tape to get funding than before. He said he sees potential for frustration in the extra questioning.
“Their general attitude makes it just a little intimidating to ask for funding, and that’s their job,” Jen Ju (SFS ‘10), the Political Awareness Chair of the Asian American Student Association, said. “Every time we propose events to them, they question in so much detail that it feels like they’re attacking you. By the middle of the year, our treasurer said, ‘I just don’t want to deal with SAC anymore.’”
“The biggest issue is that SAC is not transparent,” Rachel Cohen (COL ‘09), former Events Director of the College Democrats, said. “The decision to make these guidelines was made without notifying clubs.”
Cohen was angry about SAC’s refusal to fund the Democrats’ ‘Tent Party,’ which the Democrats presented to SAC last March and then again this October. Schiffmann said that the ‘Tent Party’ was an example of an event that could be aided by the Club Fund’s creation.
“This isn’t meant to supplant SAC,” Schiffmann said. “Ultimately, I think this will work alongside SAC to catch events and activities that slip through the cracks.”
