Treasurers Clapping during the final meeting of the semester (Bri Nitsberg | Student Life)

During the final session of the semester, Student Union (SU) Treasury unanimously approved Budget Committee funding for next year and allocated $15,398.55 to five student groups for social events, new equipment, and travel funds.

Treasury send-offs

Junior Mishka Narasimhan, Speaker of the Treasury, started the final meeting by giving kudos to the three Treasury representatives who will not be returning to SU in the fall after their terms ended this semester. Sophomores Robbie Mazer, Kenny Duran, and Pedro Morales each served one term, which lasts an entire academic year, and have chosen not to run for re-election. 

In a follow-up interview with Student Life, Duran explained that he is not running for re-election because he plans on studying abroad, but that he has enjoyed his time as a representative.

“Since I was appointed last spring, my term in Treasury has been nothing short of a collaborative and memorable experience,” Duran said. “Working closely with my fellow reps has allowed me to grow in different areas, so saying goodbye to them in this final session was bittersweet.”

Morales echoed similar sentiments in a follow-up interview with Student Life, describing how much he enjoyed working with the other members. 

“Working in SU has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Morales said. “It hasn’t been easy — SU is a big responsibility. But what kept me going was the amazing and intelligent people I had the privilege to work with each session — especially Mishka Narasimhan, Sadie Karp, [and] Emily Chen — who each put in an excessive amount of work to make sure everything went smoothly.”

Mazer, who will also be studying abroad during his junior year, told Student Life that he looks forward to Treasury’s evolution while he is gone and can’t wait to jump back in when he returns.

“I loved my time on Treasury!” Mazer said, “A few special members shaped my experience and how I turned out as a representative, Justin Kouch, Mishka Narasimhan, Sadie Karp and Jason Zhang stand out as incredible reps who always brought equitable and sound reasoning to our discussions.”

Narasimhan continued with a send-off for senior Max Roitblat, Vice President of Finance, who will be graduating this spring after being involved with SU for all four years of his time at WashU. 

During the fall semester of his freshman year, Roitblat was appointed as a Treasury representative, a role that he served in for two more semesters before being internally elected Budget Committee Chair during the spring semester of his sophomore year. He held that position until he became Speaker of the Treasury as a junior, before eventually being elected as Vice President of Finance for his senior year. 

Sophomore Sadie Karp, Budget Committee Chair, stated that she has enjoyed her time working with Roitblat and appreciates his help throughout her time in Treasury.

“He’s just the best resource you’ll ever meet,” Karp said. “He is so knowledgeable and helpful — he has definitely shaped me into the Treasury representative that I’ve become, which I’m really grateful for. I’m really sad to be losing Max. I’ve spent a lot of time working with him.”

Sophomore Leena Rai, Treasury representative, spoke about Roitblat’s impact on SU. “You have such a stressful job, and you’ve managed to infuse some joy into the office space in these meetings,” Rai said. “I know that I haven’t been here that long, but I think I’ve been here long enough to see what an impact you’ve had. We’ll miss you.”

Roitblat described how SU — and Treasury in particular — have hugely impacted his college experience. 

“I’ve been here since it was first possible for me to be. I was appointed my freshman fall, and I’ve been in SU all the way since,” Roitblat said. “I love getting to work with you all in Treasury. I loved serving in Treasury and, of course, working with all the student groups. That stuff makes it fun and enjoyable to keep pushing through all of the challenges, so I will definitely miss this.”

Budget Committee

Treasury representatives voted unanimously to approve the Budget Committee funding to allocate funds for 194 student groups for next school year. 

Each year, the Budget Committee creates a budget to allocate funds from the same pool that Treasury appeals draw from, allowing groups to receive money at the beginning of the year for funds that they know they will need ahead of time. 

In a follow-up interview with Student Life, Karp explained the reasoning behind having the Budget Committee to look at budgets now.

“The purpose of doing it this way is twofold,” Karp said. “First is to budget for events that happen early in the year, around the beginning of September, so [that] clubs have the funds to pay for those events. The second reason is to fund large-scale or high-priority events that [might] happen later in the semester to ensure they get funding, so if the appeals pot were to be emptied earlier, there would still be money for the important events.”

Budget Committee only looked at budget submissions from groups designated as Category One on Treasury’s three-tiered category list, which dictates if groups are allowed to appeal to Treasury for funding and if they receive flat funding. 

Only Category One groups can make appeals to receive funding for specific expenses, such as events, travel costs, and supplies. Both Category One and Category Two groups receive flat funding, which is a subsidy of $15 per active member in a group with a maximum of $1,500, but Category Two groups cannot make appeals. Category Three groups do not receive flat funding and are not eligible for appeals, but they are still recognized by SU.

In total, 194 Category One groups submitted budgets to the Budget Committee. Each group had to provide costs for three events that they plan on hosting or attending during the next school year, as well as separate category costs for both their equipment and overhead, which refers to miscellaneous costs of operation.

Since Treasury approved the budget, when next year begins, these student groups will start off the year with funds in their accounts, and will only have to appeal to treasury if they want funds beyond what has already been allocated for them. 

Appeals

Five clubs appealed for funding, totaling $15,398.55 at the Treasury meeting.

All Student Theatre was funded $1,483.48 for a social at Six Flags Amusement Park, and oSTEM, an LGBTQ+ engineering affinity group, was funded $1,000 for a formal. Men’s Rugby was funded $6,650 to travel to their Nationals competition.

Club Swim requested $1,847.94 for both a paintball social and dinner after at Wudon, a Korean Barbecue restaurant. Treasury representatives briefly discussed their concern with the group’s request for $23 per person for food, before deciding to fund the group for $15 per person for food costs, totaling $1,581 for all expenses.

The Muslim Students Association (MSA) requested $3,240 for a social event at Six Flags around the end of Ramadan, but after checking ticket prices, Treasury funded them for $2,937.03 as it more accurately reflected the costs of the tickets. MSA was also allocated $1,747.04 to host an Eid dinner in Hillman Hall, to mark the end of Ramadan.