CLIMATE CHECK
Sophomore Senator Andrew Cernosek said that students are unhappy with Trinity Dining’s email clarifying the meal plan changes. He said students believe more adjustments to the meal plan offerings should be made. President Omar Ratrut said that Trinity Dining will attend the SGA meeting on April 15 to discuss these issues and that they should be able to get answers to these questions.
UNIVERSITY SPONSORED ORGANIZATION (USO) FUNDING PRESENTATIONS
Vice President Madelyn Stovall prefaced the USO presentations by outlining to SGA the budget they have for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. She said that their Student Activity Fund is $750,000, and that in the current fiscal year, they have spent $187,000 of their budget on Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) alone. She said they should strive to have around $200,000 left over after funding all USOs, so they can accommodate funding requests throughout the year. Chief of Staff Bocar Diagana asked whether, considering these restraints, SGA should first review all funding requests before voting on the two presentations today. President Ratrut said that SGA will not vote on any requests until all USO requests have been heard, and that they are only deliberating on the requests today.
TRINITY UNIVERSITY VOLUNTEER ACTION COMMUNITY (TUVAC) FUNDING PRESENTATION
TUVAC requested $28,990 for the 2026-2027 fiscal year. They said they coordinate volunteer events on and off campus, host blood drives and work with nonprofits in the San Antonio community. To keep up with the demand for more volunteer opportunities, they said they want to reintroduce the Social Justice Coordinator position, which would help with event planning. They said that the $1,920 increase from last year’s request mainly covers salary for this new executive position. TUVAC said that this would allow them to increase the events they host annually from 75 to 100. Sophomore Senator Eva Smith asked what the “program head and volunteer appreciation events” line item entails, and TUVAC responded it is a once-a-semester appreciation event for volunteers where they have food and give out T-shirts. Inclusion and Belonging Chair Ayesha Farrukh asked how they plan to spend the rest of their $300 “promotional items” line item for the current year. They said that they plan to use those funds to buy promotional items like stickers, hats and pens for the next fiscal year.
DELIBERATION
Farrukh said she has a concern about the “promotional items” and believes they should reduce that amount, as they have not used all of those funds. Assistant Treasurer Denae French said that TUVAC specified that if their funding was cut, they would want them applied to their “supplies budget” rather than their “promotional items.” Senator Smith questioned why they would want to cut a budget they use more of, but Vice President Stovall said that while they haven’t used the entire “promotional items” budget this year, that isn’t necessarily indicative of what they will use next year.
Senior Senator Sabrina Cinque said that while she thinks the volunteer appreciation event is important, the budget was tripled for this fiscal year, which she believes is unnecessary and should be lowered. Senior Senator Rohit Shetty said that TUVAC’s requested amount is low compared to other USO requests, and that they should focus on cutting down larger line items from the larger requests to make a bigger difference.
RECREATIONAL SPORTS FUNDING PRESENTATION
Recreational Sports requested $119,800 to fund various aspects of Club Sports, Intermurals, Outdoor Recreation (OREC) and William H. Bell Athletic Center operations, facilities and event management. Club sports need funds for various fees, such as competition entry fees. Intramurals need funds for equipment, trophies and Bombay Bicycle Club gift cards. OREC requested $4,000 more than last year’s request to buy new equipment, such as sleeping bags and tents.
William H. Bell Athletic Center operations, facilities and event management requested funds to fix broken items. Senior Senator Alex Brown asked about the Bombay Bicycle Club gift cards, and mentioned that SGA denied the Muslim Student Association (MSA) gift cards to H-E-B because the cards could be used to purchase alcohol. Rec Sports said they have given out gift cards to intramural competition winners for years, but they are happy to change the proprietor to meet SGA’s precedent on funding gift cards.
DELIBERATION
Senator Shetty and Senator Brown contended that funding the Bombay Bicycle Club gift cards would violate SGA precedent on alcohol funding. Chief of Staff Diagana said that since Rec Sports is a USO, it should be the Trinity’s responsibility to oversee the proper use of the gift cards. However, Jessica Edonick, associate vice president for Student Affairs and dean of students, said since the money funding gift cards comes from the SAF, it falls to SGA to ensure precedent. Assistant Treasurer French said that their cleaning supplies expense request has increased from $200 in 2021 to $5,000 now, and thinks that the budget should be cut.
