The 51st legislature of the Student Government Association (SGA) convened Monday to approve funding requests for for four student organization-held events totaling $3,376.53.
Indian Cultural Exchange (ICE) President Roshan Modi (19C), Treasurer Rahul Nair (18C) and Diwali Chair Hithardhi Duggireddy (20C) presented Bill 51sl26 to request $3,244 to fund catering and student transportation for ICE’s Diwali 2017. The requested amount is a 190 percent increase from the $945 ICE received last year from SGA for Diwali.
The bill was amended to allocate $2,744, which is $500 less than what ICE asked for, and passed with 1o votes. College Junior Representative Madelyn Zapata (19C) left early and did not vote.
The ICE representatives said that the organization received $1,000 from the Executive Office of the President, a decrease from the $2,000 ICE received last year from that office. Campus Life (CL) also contributed $1,000, significantly less than the amount it donated last year. The Emory Alumni Association had not responded to ICE’s request for $500 as of Monday night. The BBA office, which provided $750 last year, provided ICE $500 this year. Those decreases in contributions put ICE $4,200 short in funds needed for the annual event.
“When we do our contracts, those things take a lot of time for it to be signed by Emory and for it to be approved and signed by the vendors,” Modi said to the legislature. “We weren’t really able to foresee [the projections] when we were planning our budget.”
Although there is a $1,500 decrease in the overall cost of the event, the loss of some funding caused ICE to request more funding from SGA, Modi added.
During the debate of the bill, Vice President of Finance Javi Reyes (18B) said SGA could fully fund the event with $3,244, pointing out that since SGA is now an undergraduate-wide organization, that it no longer has to factor in potentially funding events for graduate students.
“Most of the things that we end up seeing that come through here are relatively small scale, and this is just one of the very few that happen to be on the upper limit of things that we would fund,” Reyes said. “I do think that we have room within the contingency to fund this event.”
Singh, Executive Vice President Natasha Armstrong (18B) and Emory SAPA President Katherine Gabay (18C) submitted Bill 50sl24, which allocates $350 to fund Take Back the Night custom buttons, candles and event posters. SAPA Treasurer Leah Shine (18C) explained the event raises awareness about sexual assault and provides a platform for survivors to share their stories.
According to Speaker of the Legislature and Senior Representative William Palmer (18C), the event hosted around 200 people last year. The bill passed unanimously with 11 votes. The event will take place Oct. 30 from 7:30 to 9:3o p.m. at the Goizueta Business School Jenkins Courtyard and will include a Take Back the Night march across campus.
SGA Vice President of International Relations Dwight Ma (17Ox, 19C) submitted Bill 50sl23 to fund the Emory International Leadership Summit. The bill asks SGA to allocate $224.70 for 30 students to attend the reception. The summit aims to provide international students who are club leaders a space to collaborate on creating future events that would, “[celebrate] global diversity and [initiate] polycultural exchange,” according to the bill. The bill passed with eight votes and two abstentions.
Zapata submitted Bill 51sl25, which would allocate $57.83 to fund catering for the Emory Panhellenic Council’s event to celebrate “100 Women at Emory,” which is part of Women’s Empowerment Week. The event is scheduled for Oct. 27 in the Joseph W. Jones Room at Woodruff Library from 2 to 4 p.m. The bill passed with eight votes and two abstentions.
Singh asked SGA legislatures for their opinion on whether to choose a new vice president of communications from two people who have already expressed interest to Singh or to send an application to the all undergraduates. The former Vice President of Communications Gretel Nabeta (18C) can no longer attend executive or legislative meetings due to her class schedule.
The legislature voted on whether to have an open application for the position or not, which resulted in a tie. Palmer broke the vote and voted yes to an application process.
Applications for the position close Oct. 28 at noon, according to an Oct. 24 all-undergraduate email from Singh. The vice president of communications coordinates public relations materials and publicity for SGA, communicates on behalf of the legislature and the executive board, communicates with the graduate vice president for communications and organizes public forums for constitutional amendments.
