By Lian Bunny
News Editor
After low funding for St. Bonaventure clubs in the fall of 2014, the university’s board of trustees donated $50,000 to the Student Government Association (SGA) to distribute to campus clubs and organizations.
The board of trustees funds were donated by an anonymous alumnus.
Tom Missel, director of marketing and media relations, said, “No question, it’s tremendously gratifying when more resources become available to help expand extracurricular opportunities for students. The donor is an alumnus who knows how valuable experiences outside the classroom are to students.”
SGA receives funding through the $965 activity fee each student pays. The funds decreased because of low enrollment in the fall of 2014.
Campus Activities Board (CAB), WSBU-FM, 88.3 The Buzz, Intramural/Club sports and The Bona Venture are considered the “big four” clubs. This allows them to receive the most funding.
After the funding cut, CAB’s funds fell from $61,000 to $21,609, WSBU-FM’s from $13,283 to $4,698, Intramural’s from $13,283 to $4,698 and The Bona Venture’s from $11,954 to $4,228.
According to Alex Noguerola, senior political science major and executive president of the SGA, the SGA Executive Board met with the BOT in September and presented on the fall 2014 budget cuts.
“As a response to the presentation and hard work the SGA Executive Board and each club was putting in to make the budgets work, they decided to make the donation,” Noguerola said. “We did not receive it until mid-October officially.”
The money will be distributed to the “big four” and the Medical Emergency Response Team (MERT).
The donation will also help SGA fund Spring Weekend. The event has $7,000 in fixed costs and last year SGA spent about $10,000.
SGA allotted CAB $18,000, WSBU-FM, Intramural and The Bona Venture received $2,000 each and Spring Weekend received $20,000. SGA kept $2,500 and the remaining money was used to pay the processing fee.
As a result, The Bona Venture will return to weekly printing for the spring 2015 semester.
However, Noguerola cautioned clubs to think long term.
“We are extremely grateful that the Board of Trustees made this donation and hope that over the next couple of years as enrollment improves that the budget situation will improve as well. This is a short-term solution and fiscal responsibility will be necessary for the success of every club as we continue to face budget deficits in the upcoming years and wait for enrollment to turn around.”
