Student Union (SU) Treasury heard appeals from 11 clubs and organizations, including Chabad and the Black Senior Alliance, and approved appeals amounting to $57,832.57, Feb. 27. 

Treasury representatives also voted in favor of an amendment to allow SU Senate to make changes to proposed resolutions during regular meetings before they are voted on, whereas previously, if senators wanted to make substantive changes to a resolution, it had to be sent back to the committee that proposed it for approval. 

Speaker of the Treasury, senior Justin Kouch, told Student Life in a follow-up interview that this change will increase the efficiency of passing resolutions within the Senate. 

“Since we get rid of this part, it streamlines the entire process,” Kouch said. “The entire Senate is already there, so they can make those changes and vote on it that day instead of breaking out into committee to make the exact same changes that would have been made anyways.” 

The amendment has already been voted through by Senate and will now be sent to Constitutional Council for approval. 

After the resolution, Treasury began to hear appeals, both directly from members of clubs themselves and from Treasury representatives who had previously met with clubs appealing for funds. 

In a direct appeal, sophomores Alisa Rosenblat and Marissa Lazarus spoke on behalf of Chabad and requested $18,000 to invite Jewish matchmaker Aleeza Ben Shalom to speak in Graham Chapel on April 9, which Treasury representatives funded in full. 

Rosenblat, who is president of the Chabad Student Association, told Student Life that she sees the event as a great opportunity to bring the community together. 

“We’re really excited that it passed and we hope to see as many people as possible there,” Rosenblat said. 

Next, Black Senior Alliance president Bria Armani Couliboly requested $26,000 on behalf of the club for its members to go on a retreat. This was BSA’s first Treasury appeal since it was promoted to a Category I club at the beginning of the spring semester. 

During discussion, Treasury representatives discussed what they deemed to be a high price for the appeal, and whether or not the event was social or mission related. Per Treasury policy, Category I clubs are allotted funding for only one social event, but can appeal for multiple events related to their core mission statements. 

During the meeting, Vice President of Finance, senior Mishka Narasimhan identified some questions that the body considered when making their decision.

“This discussion [is] about where the Student Union Treasury’s values are in terms of how we fund student group’s social versus mission related events,” Narasimhan said. “How do we classify those? Where do we draw the line for a cultural affinity group whose mission is to be social and foster community? How do you distinguish between needs and wants?” 

Ultimately, the Treasury passed the appeal at a reduced price of $15,325, by making changes to proposed retreat activities, like eliminating go-karting and visiting a water park, which they felt were not mission-essential. They also made reductions to proposed food and transportation prices. 

Junior Andy Mun told Student Life that he thought lowering the cost per person from $350 to about $150 made the event more realistic for Treasury funding.

“$80 [per person] is the highest we’ve seen this semester so I think everyone was a little taken aback. My stance is that using that $350 would not be an equitable way to use the Student Union’s money,” Mun said. “Ultimately, what we [decided on] had a good rationale.”

In an interview with Student Life, Couliboly said she believed that the organization’s appeal was mission related, and articulated why that was especially important for the Black community.

“It’s definitely a mission event for us,” she said. “Mission events tend to be social events just because of the nature of the Black community, and that we’re very separated and don’t get to connect as much. It’s hard hearing [that] other people just don’t understand that, but it’s also not their lived experience,” Couliboly said.

The Mosaic Whispers a capella group requested $3,097 to attend the ICCA Midwest Semifinals, and Treasury representatives allocated it $2,887 after making modifications to its transportation plan. 

Run Club was funded for $5,236.82, after requesting $5,431.32, to attend the Shamrock Shuffle, after Treasury representatives decided that rental cars would be cheaper than the group’s request to take the train.

The Mock Trial team initially requested $3,668 to travel to Illinois in order to compete at the Opening Round Championship, where it could qualify for nationals. Its appeal was approved for $3,844, with the increase due to unforeseen transportation costs.

The club baseball team originally requested $1,300 to fund a home game against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, but was allocated $800, because the club had previously been allocated funds for field rentals.  

The WashU Chess Club was allocated $3,960 to send 30 students to attend the 28th Annual Mid America Open. Treasury also passed an appeal by the Wilderness Project for a training trip for $1,253.50, and an appeal by the Jewish Student Association for Purim meals for $2,200.

The final two appeals of the night included club sailing, which was allocated $1,100 for its Buckeye Invitational Regatta in April, and Cast n’ Crew, which was allocated $3,200 for its Student Theater Formal.