Officer Reports:

President Danny Nguyen opened the meeting with an announcement about the upcoming “media day” for SGA and reminders about the donor breakfast and tailgate on alumni weekend, as well as the upcoming Trinitailgate.
Climate Check:

Sophomore Senator Odi Aneji raised concerns about a rodent issue in the library, especially since Starbucks operates there, and President Nguyen assured that an extermination company had been hired and traps had been laid. Senator Aneji also asked for help on the water fountain issue from a senator living in CityVista, and Junior Senator Andrew Phillips volunteered.

Junior Senator Joy Areola asked if there could be more patrols around CityVista at night given the criminal activity there recently. Vice President said that she would bring it up in a meeting with TUPD.

Communications Chair Caleb Aguiar mentioned the foundational issues in the CityVista parking garage that has led to plenty of leaks, and President Nguyen told him to email Ernesto Gonzalez and Stephanie Keith.

Senator Phillips proposed that SGA start posting agendas and finance information somewhere in Coates Student Center where everyone could see. Advisor Jamie Thompson said that a past SGA had tried this bulletin board idea and that it had fallen through, though she believed they could do it in a way that worked and suggested reaching out to Wills Brown.

Funding Presentations:

Aside from Project HOME, all deliberations were tabled until later in the meeting so that the funding presentations could proceed before another group claimed the room at 7:30 p.m. At that point, SGA moved to the neighboring room, where limited chairs left President Nguyen and Vice President Mora standing and Advisor Thompson, Senator Phillips, Communications Chair Aguiar and Legislative Relations Chair Nina Pollak sitting on the floor.

SGA — Project HOME. Fully funded $61,600.00.

President Nguyen and representatives from different kinds of registered student organizations (RSOs) and club sports presented on behalf of Project HOME (Helping Student Organizations Move and Excel), a stimulus funding initiative in which all active RSOs and official club sports will receive $200 per semester from SGA, no questions asked, for them to spend on whatever they need without having to present to SGA (within reason — the purchases must be legal and comply with current SGA policies). The goal is to give organizations more agency to spend money on the things they need and increase support of student organizations to better student life. Representatives from SPURS Sorority, South Asian Student Association (SASA), Men’s Ultimate Frisbee, Animation Production Club and student engagement and development spoke on how the money would be useful.

Senior Senator Lucy Orosco Saavedra asked why all student organizations were receiving the same amount of money, regardless of size. President Nguyen responded that it would be difficult to get into the nitty-grittynitty gritty, and that some smaller organizations would need more financial support than bigger organizations. Ultimately, he emphasized that students could still come to SGA meetings to present for additional funding.

Senator Phillips inquired about why they were funding the fall and spring semesters at once, rather than one at a time after observing how this semester went. President Nguyen said that they didn’t want to see just a one-off impact. Senator Orosco asked how this project would impact the overall funds for SGA, and President Nguyen said that the funding comes from student activity fund carryover and shouldn’t affect annual allocations. Vice President Mora Adrover emphasized that that budget had been carefully considered

Junior Senator Ella Charbonnet motioned to fully fund Project HOME, and the motion passed unanimously.

Voter Engagement Task Force — National Student Vote Summit. Partially funded $2,611.84.

Two students, including Legislative Relations Chair Pollak, presented on behalf of the T.U. Voter Engagement Task Force to send four students to the Students Learn Students Vote coalition National Student Vote Summit in Maryland — two democracy fellows and two MOVE Texas representatives — to develop their skills so that they could help increase civic engagement on campus. Though only a small number of students would be attending, the students emphasized that the impact would be big.

Sophomore Senator Bocar Diagana said that it was a great initiative, and senior Senator Adam Garza agreed. However though, the senators got hung up on some of the costs, questioning why they had to stay at the particular hotel. The senators were mainly concerned that only four students were going at a cost of over $1,000 per studentt, when the entrance fee is only $75. After discussing the pros and cons of fully, partially or not funding the group for quite some time, senior Senator Nadesh Vaithianathan motioned to deny funding, which Senator Charbonnet seconded.

Following some recounting of votes over confusion that “yay” in this case meant denying funding and “nay” meant wanting to fund the group at any amount and a helpful key written on the board by Senator Phillips, the motion failed with 12 nays. Senator Aneji then motioned to partially fund the request, just for flights and registration, which passed with 15 yays.

Gamma Chi Delta — Concert for CAMP. Funding denied.

The Gamma Chi Delta rush chair presented on behalf of Gamma Chi Delta for their charity event Concert for CAMP (Children’s Association for Maximum Potential). The funding would go to the venue for the event so that all ticket sales at the door would go to CAMP. This event has struggled to make a profit in the past, so junior Senator Allison Waters questioned why they didn’t just donate directly to CAMP.

Junior Senator Joy Areola asked if they had looked into cheaper options, and Vice President Mora Adrover expressed concern that the money for this event would be coming from the student activity fee, which students have to pay into, but then that students would still have to pay to go. In deliberations, some senators expressed their concerns that funding this event would set a bad precedent for fraternity and sorority life and that they felt they were paying for Gamma to hold a party at an expensive venue, when they could seek out cheaper venues, like a house.

Junior Senator Harrison Tinker was concerned that they would be funding thousands of dollars to a sorority under the false pretense of fundraising. He later said that he would not have an issue with funding the event if it was just presented as a party. Senators Phillips and Waters brought up the point that philanthropy should be the responsibility of the Greek organizations themselves.

Sophomore Senator Omar Ratrut and Senator Orosco, a Gamma, spoke in favor of the event, but ultimately Senator Vaithianathan motioned to deny funding, and the motion passed.

South Asian Student Association — Diwali. Fully funded $5,282.41.

SASA presented for funding for their event, Diwali: The World Premiere, a celebration of the festival of lights with food, performances and comedy. 250 people attended the event last year, and given turnout at events this semester, they anticipate even better attendance this year.

The SASA request was the last thing to be voted on, so the deliberations went quickly. Senator Ratrut motioned to fully fund SASA, and the motion passed unanimously. “SASA is so lit,” one of the senators wanted me to write, but it was so late, and I forgot to record their name.

Delta Sigma Pi — Denver LEAD School. Fully funded $2,274.

Delta Sigma Pi presented in order to make it affordable for as many members as possible to go to the Denver LEAD School event, only requesting for money for flight reimbursement and hotel stays. Senator Diagana motioned to fully fund the request, and the motion passed.