The Associated Students Finance Board distributed $12,476.05 in funds to nine student organizations during their three-hour meeting yesterday.
The A.S. external vice president of local affairs was among the recipients of full funding. The A.S. executive office received $3,042,40 for “Be the Change. Live the Dream” – a week-long campaign coinciding with Martin Luther King Jr. Day to promote acceptance and tolerance of diversity.
A.S. Commission on Public Safety chair Kt Van Dermark, a third-year art history and exercise and health science major, said the event is in response to the hate crimes which occurred over the summer.
“Our intent is to educate and to celebrate,” Van Dermark said. “While we do recognize that horrible things happened before school started, this event is less a reaction to what happened than a proactive measure to prevent it from happening again.”
During the discussion, board member Dan Plotkin said the EVPLA executive officer has enough money to fund the event himself.
“If an executive wants to help fund an event, they should exhaust their budget then come back to us if they need more money,” Plotkin said.
Board member Pratish Patel, on the other hand, said it was not the officer’s responsibility to fund an event which involved so many campus groups. Queer Student Union, Alpha Phi Alpha, Residential Life and Residence Hall Association are among the many student organizations included.
“This is a ridiculously good event,” Patel said. “Zekee [Silos, the EVPLA] shouldn’t have to fund this event. A lot of organizations are involved – it’s a campuswide thing. This is something that needs to be done and the EVPLA is already contributing a large amount. I’m all for this event. It’s amazing and I can’t wait for this to happen.”
The other groups receiving funding last night were the India Association, Russian Club, Wellness Club, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Alpha Delta Chi, Wrestling Club and Students for Justice in Palestine.