A $750 special request from the Black Women of Achievement stirred a bit of discussion during Wednesday night’s ASUO Student Senate meeting, as Sen. Jennifer Greenough questioned why the group would not use $350 it had in its accounts left over from past events.
The BWA asked the senate to help out with the costs of the Black Heritage Fashion Show. But Greenough pointed out the leftover funds and spoke against granting the request as presented.
“Right now, I’d prefer for us to offset the costs with the funds [it has already],” she said.
But many senators noted the group’s substantial fundraising effort and supported the request.
“They’ve clearly invested a lot of time in this,” Senate President Peter Watts said. “And I think we should invest the little bit of time to give them this money.”
During another special request, ASUO President Jay Breslow introduced a new Executive campaign Wednesday that will ask students how the ASUO should spend $100,000 it has sitting in one of its accounts.
“We have all this crazy fundage in the over-realized account,” Breslow said.
Breslow said a committee would pick the best student proposal for how to use the money.
Termed the 100,000 Bucks for Ducks campaign, it will be a three-way partnership between the Executive, the senate and the University administration.
But rather than discuss the $999 the Executive was requesting for a “public relations blitz” to let students know about the campaign, most discussion revolved around the point of the campaign.
“The student body would start to understand their legitimate power and the way they can affect this campus,” Sen. Andy Elliott said.
The senate also passed a $2,100 special request to partially fund a job search for a new MCC director.
Current director Erica Fuller is filling an interim position that opens up again at the end of this year.
In other business, the EMU board announced that it would not appeal its budget. The board considered such an action after the senate approved a budget .42 percent less than what it requested, but Sen. Skye Tenney said the EMU would keep the numbers as they are.