Columbia’s student organizations had their budgets cut by $400 this year to help the college address its financial crisis.
Last academic year, officially recognized student organizations received $1,400. With less funding now, some groups are scaling back long-held events, partnering with other organizations or hosting fundraisers.
Paige Johnson, president of the Student Organization Council and a senior creative writing major, said the budgets were cut to accommodate more student groups and to account for the merger of the SOC with the Student Athletic Association.
To address the $17 million deficit, the college also closed the Student Health Center earlier this year and laid off staff, as the Chronicle previously reported. Next week, the college’s Board of Trustees is considering a plan from the college leadership to cut or merge programs that are expensive to offer or have low enrollment.
There were 10 new organizations recognized this semester, a record for the fall, said Johnson. Last semester, the college had 57 student organizations. Currently, there are 67.
Johnson said for organizations that may need more than the allotted $1,000 for their planned events, they take on fundraising and finding other resources. The Picture Perfect Modeling Troupe hosted pop-up thrift shops at the Conway Center and The National Theatre Honor Society sold candy grams to raise money for fall musical “Hair.”
“We’ve had a lot of clubs start this semester that have big plans for the spring,” she said. “So there’s a greater need for more money.”
Some of the newly recognized clubs include Proud Artists of Native/Indigenous Communities and the Board Game Club.
While Johnson said she’s not “thrilled” about the budget decrease, she said she’s “happy that it turned into a collaboration effort within the organizations.”
President of Latino Alliance Mario Jimenez, a senior photography major, said he’s been more stressed about his organization’s budget than before. Jimenez said he’s grateful Latino Alliance still has a budget, but “$1,000 really isn’t that much.”
Latino Alliance has one school-wide event per semester due to how much they’re able to budget for, Jimenez said. He said the organization wants to prioritize its budget for larger events to “celebrate and promote” the Latino community at Columbia.
Jimenez said Latino Alliance was able to be “more daring, more outgoing” with their budget last year. For this year, Jimenez said the organization is “balling on a budget,” but he thinks this is a good lesson to learn how to stretch their money.
Diego Martinez, a senior music business major, said he was disappointed by the lack of budget. He said students shouldn’t be put into a position where they have to accept that “especially when it comes to the more cultural clubs.”
“I feel like clubs are one of the few places where we could go feel at home,” Martinez said. He feels this aspect is being taken away from Latino students, showing that the school isn’t as representative as it may claim to be.
Liya Brown, the head of media for the Black Student Union and a junior film and television major, said that she knows BSU’s budget of $1,000 is “very much limited”, and the organization has had to hold back a little bit with their bigger events like last year’s Blackout event.
Brown said that last year, BSU was able to have more decorations and food, with money left over after to go toward the group’s other events. This year, while the group was able to provide food, they still had limited decorations, and “it wasn’t like how it was the first time,” she said
For some of the organization’s events, executive board members had to use their own money for food and drinks.
“It’s kind of discouraging because we use [food and beverages] as an incentive for people to come to meetings,” Chaya Ross, a junior film and television major and the head of volunteers for BSU said. “I feel like we are doing well with the money that we have now, but it definitely would help if we had more.”
Zane Kazor, the president of Renegades Soccer and a sophomore cinematography major, said while not yet having spent any of the club’s budget, he has plans to buy jerseys and brand-new equipment for the spring semester, as the team is currently practicing with a broken goalie net.
Kazor said while the team could use their budget for smaller things as well, like snacks and candy for school events, it’s easier to use their personal budgets since it takes time to request those purchases from SOC.
The rest of the budget, Kazor said, usually goes toward league and registration fees for the competitive season, typically costing around $1,000– their entire budget for this semester.
“Just looking at the numbers, it’s going to be a problem,” Kazor said. “We have to do a bit of fundraising if we want to make all ends meet.”
For PANIC, the $1,000 budget is a lot of money, said Reva Beltran, the group leader and a founder of the organization.
“We’re working really hard to actually use up our funds because it’s a lot more than we expected,” said Beltran, a senior film and television major.
PANIC also plans to do more moving forward, like possibly hosting a Native powwow or bringing in Native artists and alums to give a talk or workshop.
“Mostly, it’s just kind of trying to create a space for Native students to connect at Columbia,” Beltran said.
The organization mainly used its budget for catering food at meetings, but also used it for a collaborative movie night with the Illustration Student Group this fall.
Beltran said they understand other organizations plan for bigger events. “If their budget goes down, they might have to cut costs in other places or have smaller events,” they said.
Additional reporting by Greer Stewart
Copy edited by Vanessa Orozco
