Students often have moments of genius that begin with the words "what if" and eventually get lost in the bustle of busy schedules and extra-curricular activities. Next spring, however, Emory students will have the opportunity to develop and actualize an idea they've always wanted to bring to campus.
"$5,000 to Change Emory" is Student Government Association's (SGA) grant competition open to all students. The goal of the project is for students to have the opportunity to execute an idea and foster community among all divisions of Emory.
"Basically, we realized every student – at one point or another – thinks, 'It would be cool if,' but they often just don't have the funding or resources to turn that awesome idea into action," said SGA President and College senior Ashish Gandhi.
College senior Michael Goldberg first introduced this idea to SGA. He said Northwestern University conducted a similar competition and that he wanted to bring it to Emory.
The application, which will be available on the Office of Student Leadership and Service's website, is not limited to individual students. Student organizations may apply as a group as well as classes and unofficial groups of students.
$5,000 to Change Emory is the first of its kind. Monetary grants usually come from national organizations, corporations or foundations. Moreover, these grants usually go to University departments and institutions for the purpose of research or funding for large-scale projects.
This grant, however, is the first to go directly from SGA to the students. It is also the first that fosters competition among students within Emory and whose end project will be available to all students.
The requirements for submission are that the idea must cater to the entire student body, including graduate and undergraduate students, and it must be implemented between March 1 and April 19.
While the submission can virtually be anything feasible within the limit of $5,000, Gandhi cites events, academic or extracurricular programs and structural improvements to campus as examples of viable submissions. SGA will accept ongoing submissions until Feb. 8.
After all proposals are in, SGA will narrow the list of applicants down to a handful of finalists. Then, all students will get the opportunity to vote on which idea they want the most.
Essentially, this competition will give students the power that SGA holds every day – to use the Student Activities Fee as they see fit, according to Goldberg.
The student who wins the grant competition will essentially act as an SGA member to execute the idea. In addition to SGA funds, they will have access to SGA's avenues of communication with the administration and methods of advertising. They may also collaborate with the Student Programming Council (SPC) if necessary.
"I can't even explain how excited I am for the proposals we are going to receive. There are some incredible, fantastic ideas on how to improve our community already being discussed out there, and we're finally going to have a forum to see them all in one place," said Gandhi.
– By Rupsha Basu
