SGA Senate approved funding for the College Republicans and the Jewish Student Organization (JSO) after a period of conflict between the organizations and the SGA’s Finance Committee.
The College Republicans received $249, and JSO received $166.
“This is the first year we’ve received a low amount,” said Chris Ertel, a member of College Republicans and chief of staff for SGA. “We asked for $900.”
SGA Finance Committee’s preliminary budget did not fund either organization, according to Jonathan Rowe, SGA president.
“Traditionally, we haven’t funded religious organizations but have funded political organizations,” said Rowe. “The College Republicans were denied funding because they were using their money for things too pro-Republican. JSO didn’t receive any because they are a religious organization.”
There were several conflicts within the Finance Committee when deciding whether or not to fund the organizations, according to Ertel.
“The reasons the Finance Committee gave for not funding the organizations were unacceptable,” said Ertel. “They said that we didn’t use the money in the way that we specified we would in last year’s budget request.”
Ertel said that the College Republicans registered voters and shuttled them to and from Cullowhee Valley elementary school, which is what they said they were going to do.
Jermaine Perry, an SGA senator, believes JSO should receive funding as well. “JSO is supposedly a religious organization, but they are an ethnic group as well. They deserve funding.”
JSO received $166 because this is the first year that it has applied for funding, and other organizations in the same situation received the same amount of funds.