On Dec. 8 at about noon, the Georgetown University Student Association’s Student Activities Fee Endowment reform referendum reached the 2,000-vote threshold it needed for its results to be considered valid.
Voting began on Tuesday, Dec. 7, when the GUSA Election Commission opened student voting on the Senate’s SAFE reform proposals. Students can vote until midnight tonight on the single-question referendum, which is comprised of several measures.
One component will end the practice of deferring half of the $100 annual Student Activities Fee to the SAFE, which has failed to become a self-sustaining fund that eliminates the need for the fee altogether, as was intended. Another will raise the Student Activities Fee by $50 over the next two years and then incrementally to keep pace with inflation.
GUSA Election Commissioner Adam Giansiracusa (SFS ’12) has publicly released vote totals twice a day, which he said sought to encourage voter turnout.
The GUSA Senate launched a vigorous get-out-the-vote campaign earlier this week, urging students to vote in favor of the reforms. Senators posted flyers, stormed dorms, and installed themselves in high-traffic study areas like the second floor of Lauinger, the business school building [name the building], and Sellinger Lounge. In an email, Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Greg Laverriere (COL ’12) said, “a couple people even baked cookies to hand out.”
Although they initially considered allocating club funds for the campaign, GUSA senators ultimately financed the campaign themselves, collectively donating between $200 and $300. Laverriere said the senators did not want a political campaign promoting their viewpoint to be facilitated by student funds. There are no plans for reimbursement.
Senate Speaker Adam Mortillaro (COL ’12) said other clubs and advisory boards participated in the campaign, including the Georgetown University College Democrats. Mortillaro was optimistic about the referendum’s success, adding that he thought GUSA’s conversations with students were the most effective component of the advertising campaign.
“The general consensus [among the senators] was that we received overwhelming waves of support,” he said. “I believe most of them realize after talking to us about SAFE Reform that this plan will drastically improve Georgetown.”
If passed, the referendum’s measures will more than double the amount of funding for student activities. All of its proposals are posed in a single question, and voters must either accept or reject them as a package.
Mortillaro said that the single-question approach is necessary to move forward with the legislation.
“Getting it over with in one fell swoop will help us implement the legislation quickly,” he explained.
Senator Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) explained that GUSA grouped the questions because students would probably reject the fee increase if they could vote on it separately.
Dalvin Butler (COL ‘13), a member of the Student Activities Commission who endorsed SAFE reform, said he considered the fee increase an improvement. However, he believes that the two questions should have been separated.
“I believe the [question about] the money in the endowment would pass faster than the fee increase,” Butler said.
Nonetheless, Butler thinks the student body will vote in favor of the reform, which he believes will allow Georgetown to compete with other colleges with higher activities fees.
“SAFE reform is long overdue,” he added. “More funds give more room to experiment and allow innovative ideas by groups that have been deprived of funds.”
SAC has not taken an official position on SAFE reform, according to SAC Vice-Chair-elect and Publicity Director Ruiyong Chen (COL ’13). But many commissioners have sent emails to club leaders they work with to inform them about the parameters of the referendum and urging the groups to vote.
The referendum will increase funding available to fulfill funding requests made by SAC, which receives only a portion of its funding from the activities fee. In the 2009 fiscal year, 12.68 percent of SAC’s funding came from the student activities fee, 79.16 percent from tuition, and 8.16 percent from Georgetown’s contract with Coca-Cola.
While members of the FinApp Committee often cite a lack of funding for startup groups as grounds for SAFE reform, Chen said that these clubs fail more often due to the rigorous, yearlong founding process than funding impediments.
“More funding for clubs is a good thing,” she said.
What is the ratio of fees to tuition for 1 semester?