Nearly a month after Welcome Week, two commissions under the
undergraduate student government asked the council Tuesday night
for a partial reimbursement for the events they spearheaded.
Though the Campus Events Commission and Cultural Affairs
Commission are willing to pay a share of the money, they asked the
Undergraduate Students Association Council for a $13,000
reimbursement so that the two commissions and USAC would all carry
an equal financial weight for the event.
“Cultural Affairs Commission and Campus Events Commission
are more than willing to put forth a fair share of the money, but
we have a full year ahead of us with our own events,” said
Jason Gaulton, the Campus Events commissioner.
Though USAC as a whole contributed to the Welcome Week events,
Cultural Affairs, Campus Events and general representative offices
committed more time, money and community service, Gaulton
added.
The council agreed Tuesday night to reimburse its fellow
committees, but not without a little hesitation from Financial
Supports commissioner Alex Gruenberg.
Though Gruenberg had no reservations about reimbursing the
commissions, he was concerned with the hasty manner in which the
issue was handled.
“I was hesitant because we didn’t have enough
information about the amount of surplus ““ when it comes to
moving large sums of money, I want all the information,”
Gruenberg said. “There was no need for expediency on the
matter.”
Gruenberg said that hopefully, in the future, the council can
collaboratively postpone action in light of the need for more
information. For the past two years, the two commissions have been
responsible for creating the large-scale university-wide events at
the beginning of Welcome Week.
Without financial aid from administrators, they depended on
their own funds to sponsor the 12-hour event, which consisted of a
carnival, concert, dance and movie.
“We knew it would be expensive, but we were passionate
about having it. The importance of the event outweighs financial
issues,” Gaulton said.
Though the commissions pursued different sources within the
administration for funding, they were unsuccessful ““ both
this year and last.
Since this was a university-wide event, many councilmembers
believe it is “extremely” important for the university
to step in and help out financially.
Coinciding with Black Sunday, Welcome Week offers an alternative
activity, a direction the administration has been striving
toward.
“Due to the success of this year, we have been approached
by many administrators about how unfair (the funding) was,”
said Allende Palma/Saracho, USAC president. “We can’t
sustain something like this every year without help.”
Though Welcome Week has existed in some capacity throughout the
years, the idea to have one large event, such as a concert,
targeted toward all students rather than incoming freshmen was a
fairly new idea, created two years ago.
Realizing that traditions do not become established easily,
councilmembers are still optimistic that in the years to come, the
administration will have a strong financial presence in this
matter.