Student Congress appropriates about $20,000 to organizations’ funding requests

About $20,000 was appropriated to the seven organizations that came before Student Congress Tuesday.

Funding proposals were brought forward by several organizations, including the Black Student Movement, Project Literacy and the UNC Longboarding Club.

Limitations were also placed on the UNC student safety and security committee funding when a bill was passed that provides new regulations.

The bill was approved by two committees before reaching full Student Congress and was supported by Student Body President Mary Cooper.

Speaker Zach De La Rosa said this was one of the most important issues on the agenda since the group had not been regulated before.

“Currently there are no regulations whatsoever about how the fees are handled,” De La Rosa said.

“Student safety is a holistic issue on campus that needs to be addressed in many different ways.”

Jared Simmons, chairman of the finance committee of Student Congress, expressed concern about fees going to a specific department, specifically UNC’s Department of Public Safety.

Following lengthy questioning of the bill by representatives, Student Congress passed it.

With heavy budget cuts at the University, Student Congress was not quick to hand out proposed funding.

For some organizations, representation was key in receiving the funds originally approved by the finance committee.

Representatives from Chapel Hill Chalkaa, a competitive Indian dance team, asked for funding to cover new costumes for the group.
Student Congress representatives moved to grant the group $3,738.27.
BSM asked for about $28,000. Student Congress appropriated about $9,400.

Bounce Magazine appealed to Congress for funding for a fourth issue, but Congress members did not approve the proposal. Their budget is about $1,870.

Student Congress also passed a concurrent resolution in support of continuing financial aid into summer sessions for undergraduate students.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.