Temple Student Government’s Parliament is discussing a resolution that would recommend overturning a rule that was added this summer, preventing organizations from receiving allocations, or TSG funds, for banquets, galas and formals.
TSG has no power to change allocations rules on its own, said Will Wrobel, TSG’s director of allocations. The university sets the guidelines, so a resolution would be a recommendation for the rule to change.
Junior Dufort, an at-large representative, proposed the bill at Parliament’s bi-weekly meeting Oct. 14.
If the university changed the rule, organizations will be eligible to apply for funding if they open registration to all students and advertise it as such, Dufort said.
“A lot of these student organizations will have a large event at the end of the year that stamps their organization, and if they are done correctly and open to the student body, why aren’t they allowed to be funded by TSG,” Dufort said.
At the Oct. 14 meeting, multiple Parliament representatives expressed concerns about whether the organizations would have to advertise events to the student body. They postponed the vote for further discussion and approval from the allocations committee.
Student organizations who complete TSG’s annual requirements and meet attendance standards are eligible to apply for up to either $500 or $2,500 to fund their operating budgets, organization events or travel expenses, according to TSG’s published guidelines.
The allocations are intended to serve as a supplement to an organization’s expenses and are not guaranteed, according to the guidelines. Requests for allocations must be approved by an allocations committee.
Parliament postponed the resolution because Dufort had not done enough research on the issue, including talking to members of the allocations committee, said Drew Gardner, speaker of Parliament.
“I just think that we wanted to be sure that this change is something that TSG can stand behind, and that includes doing all the research,” said Maya White, Parliament’s College of Public Health representative.
Three student organization leaders said they support the resolution.
Without the funds from allocations, the Progressive NAACP wouldn’t have afforded their annual event, which has occurred for the past six years, said Alexandra Gordon, the chapter’s president.
“They became aware of some organizations being wary about that allocations point, and they surveyed the organizations and saw how they would be affected by it and went forward trying to rectify the situation,” Gordon said.
“As long as those organizations are allowing any student to attend, they should be allowed to use allocations,” said Darius Hockaday, the president of Strong Men Overcoming Obstacles Through Hardwork. “Otherwise a lot of the organizations won’t get to have those events at all.”
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