The Trinitonian and SGA sent out a survey on Feb. 5 asking students where they would like to see the $33,000 carryover from last semester’s Student Activity Fund (SAF) spent. Students voted for renovating green spaces, adding more printer locations and creating a food pantry. However, some survey responses said that SGA shouldn’t be responsible for funding campus improvements, and that instead, the Trinity administration should shoulder those costs.
“Trinity is lacking with accountability and upkeep of their campus and resources, SGA and the SAF should not have to take on this burden though; a conversation should be had with administrators,” one survey respondent wrote.
Ben Williams, associate dean of students, said that while Trinity might love to invest in these items to benefit students, they don’t necessarily have the funds to do so. While he understands the frustration of seeing such a large endowment look like it is not being used, he said, the reality is that the university gives the money to departments for specific purposes each year.
“Because if we think about the rising cost of just operating, the rising costs of staff, all of these different pieces, and the current inflation that we’re experiencing, if SGA doesn’t use these resources that are designed to support students to do it, it just won’t happen,” Williams said.
Williams said that the university can’t fund these kinds of expenses, and if they were to, it would take a long time for it to come to fruition. SGA president Omar Ratrut said that he also understands why students are frustrated with SGA funding what seems like university expenditures, but there are upsides.
“I think at the end of the day, Trinity University has many bureaucratic processes that you have to go through before something can actually be tangible and actually make progress,” Ratrut said. “And I think giving students access to those resources is something I really enjoy about that SAF model. Students get a say in where their money is going directly.”
Before the 2025-2026 academic year, a direct fee charged to student tuition funded the SAF, according to Andrew Wells, vice president for student affairs. Under the previous funding system, SGA had to be conservative when approving funding requests from student organizations, as the SAF balance was entirely dependent on student enrollment. Trinity now funds the SAF itself, with SGA receiving a flat amount of $750,000 at the beginning of each fiscal year.
“Now, SGA has an amount that’s SGA’s responsibility to manage. And they budgeted according to the principles of SGA, their financial code and their bylaws,” Wells said.
The SAF was not necessarily treated as university funding before this fiscal year, according to Williams. With SAF money now coming directly from the university, certain things funded by SGA on precedent, such as gift cards, retreats and Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) recruitment, must now be reevaluated to be in line with Trinity policy.
Apart from ensuring that specific line items funded by the SAF are in line with university policy, Williams also explained why it falls onto SGA to fund William H. Bell Athletic Center equipment repairs. Historically, SGA has funded equipment repairs as well as Bell Center student employee salaries. This academic year, Trinity absorbed the cost of their salaries. However, SGA still funds equipment repairs, because the SAF is designed to support the activities of all students on campus, he said.
“If SGA doesn’t fund [equipment repairs], then I’m sure Seth [Asbury, associate director of athletics for facilities and event management] would try to work with the university to come up with something. But at the end of the day, if there’s not funding for it…then it just won’t happen,” Williams said.
Darcie Gulick, junior finance major and member of the SGA finance committee, said she does not believe SGA should fund Bell Center equipment repairs. In recent years, Bell Center representatives have requested funding from SGA for things such as scoreboards or turf, with this year’s funding request coming out to $34,000, she said. While she is unaware of Facilities Services’ budget, she expressed that they should receive more if or when that budget gets changed if they are unable to fund these repairs with their current budget.
Deciding whether things should be funded by SGA or the university should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, Gulick said. Since the university owns the Bell Center equipment, the university should ultimately fund its repairs, she said.
“It gets controversial because the Student Activity Fund is in our tuition, and the entire point is to benefit the students,” Gulick said. “They could argue that this benefits any students that play sports or all students, but then it gets into the discussion of so many other things that need funding. And that’s not coming out of the Student Activity [Fund]. So what makes recreational sports any different?”
Rosalie Leykum, senior business and communication double-major and class of 2026 senator, is a member of the SGA constitutional committee. Leykum said the current SGA constitution, which states SGA can fund events that benefit the student body at large, is too vague. She does not agree with SGA funding the Bell Center equipment repairs since Trinity students are not the only people who use that equipment, she said. As a member of the constitutional committee, Leykum expressed that the constitution should be amended to make the guidelines for what the university funds and what SGA funds more specific.
“[The university] should be funding [Bell Center equipment repairs], obviously, we want a gym that everybody can use,” Leykum said. “It doesn’t make sense to me why Trinity wouldn’t fund that. Do we fund stuff in Mabee? No. Do we fund stuff in Northrup? No. So why should we fund the Bell Center?”
