LUSU board faces flurry of funding requests, revisits policy
Erin Collins
News Editor
The LUSU board dished out monetary helpings to assist a socially conscious sports team, a Black History Month dinner, and a summer reporter position last Thursday.
Karen Sawchuk appealed to LUSU for funding on behalf of the Think Pink campaign, a charity effort by the women’s basketball team to fund breast cancer research and treatment initiatives at the Thunder Bay Regional Hospital. LUSU provided Think Pink with $300 to support the cause.
Reynolds Okoh from the African and Caribbean Students Association (AFCASA) requested $2,450 for the club’s annual Black History Month dinner. Reynolds emphasized that the major purpose of the event was to raise awareness of African and Caribbean presence and culture in the community.
“We are a visible minority in Thunder Bay,” explained Okoh. “We use this dinner to showcase our traditions and culture; it is the main reason for the event.”
The dinner, which will be held at Moose Hall on Feb. 4, has an estimated cost of $7,450. As of the meeting, AFCASA had not yet sold enough tickets to break even. Their funding request form explained that “at present, we have 400 tickets printed [that] we need to sell to break even [unless] we get some sponsorship dollars to offset the cost.”
A few board members expressed hesitancy in handing over the requested amount, as AFCASA failed to break even last year and turned to LUSU for financial assistance shortly before the event. Vice President Student Issues Neva Bassingthwaite weighed in by saying, “This sets a precedent for clubs planning events and coming to us for funding at the last minute.”
But Director Ayoub Ansari asserted that the upcoming dinner was deserving of LUSU funds. “This is an opportunity for them to showcase their culture and their talents,” he explained. “We shouldn’t measure this by how much money they make.”
Director Nathanial Hansford suggested a compromise in which LUSU would provide AFCASA with some funding, a portion of which would be in the form of a loan. The board eventually decided to provide AFCASA with $1,000 by purchasing 50 tickets to the dinner, which will be disbursed to members of the student body.
LUSU also agreed to fund a staff summer position for The Argus to report on the actions of summer board. President Michael Snoddon explained, “This will not only provide a summer job but keep board more transparent to students.”
Hansford agreed. “I think this is a necessary change to increase the transparency of LUSU and protect our reputation,” he said.
Meanwhile, dogsledding in Norway was put on hold.
Students Jenna Anderson and Jaimi Richards requested LUSU funds to help their outdoor recreation class fulfill a mandatory exploration course. While students have the option of completing the course in Northern Ontario, others have the opportunity to travel to Norway where they will study polar tourism and the art of dogsledding.
A few board members expressed uncertainty regarding whether LUSU should be financially assisting academic courses. Bassingthwaite explained that deciding to fund mandatory courses and internships would open up LUSU to many more requests in the future, and these requests already occur frequently.
Prior to adjournment, the board revisited their need for a policy to handle funding requests within a set of guidelines. They hope that this policy will be employed soon to enhance the regulation of future requests.
Category: News
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