The 46th Legislature of the Student Government Association (SGA) voted unanimously on Monday evening to fund the annual Diwali event held by the Indian Cultural Association (ICE).
Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is an Indian cultural holiday marking the Indian New Year and is widely celebrated in the US. In the past, Emory ICE Diwali has won College Council’s Program of the Year, and students, faculty and administrators have attended annually. This year, the event will be held on Nov. 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
ICE Co-President Twinkle Mehta, Treasurer Akshar Patel and Diwali Chair Louisa Keeler presented the bill to SGA. They emphasized Diwali’s significance to the Emory student body, stating that the event has become a tradition.
ICE asked for $3093.61, which is the difference between the cost of the event and the revenue. The latter includes both self-generated money and donations.
The cost of the event consists of the hall rental, food, decorations, audio-visual services, transportation, advertising, security, entertainment and programs.
A total of about $33,000 is required to host the event.
SGA also asked what ICE will do in the event that they don’t sell all the tickets. ICE increased tickets from 550 last year to 600 this year. Ticket sales account for about half of ICE’s revenue for the event.
Vice President for Finance Sean Lee provided financial perspective, stating that the amount ICE asked for accounts for about 10% of the budget available for SGA to give away to clubs. He thought it was something SGA could afford, given that ICE Diwali is one of the biggest events held by Emory.
ICE received donations this year from a number of institutions, most notably, College Council, President Wagner, the alumni, the language department, and the Office of Multicultural Programs and Services. Total revenue for ICE Diwali is almost $30,000.
Senior representative Brad Clement said, “[ICE Diwali] is one of the most cherished traditions on Emory’s campus.” He urged the SGA to vote in favor of the bill.
SGA also voted unanimously on a bill presented by the Governance Committee Chair Ted Guio.
The bill states that the deadline for the committee to manually review chartered organizations on campus ought to be pushed back from the last week of October to the first week of November to give them more time to do so.
– By Rupsha Basu
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