The Financial Advisory Board unanimously approved three student organization appeals requests on Thursday that totaled over $12,000.
The largest of the three requests came from the Emerson Cheerleading Squad, who submitted an appeal for $10,369.57. Before the request, the organization had $1,465.95 remaining in their account from their Annual Budget Request granted by FAB.
$7,108.66 of the request is intended for the purchase of mats that will be used for practices and performances, while the remaining funds will be used for purchasing new uniforms, backpacks and storage bins.
Student Government Association Executive Treasurer Abigail Semple told The Beacon in an interview following the meeting that a request over $10,000 is not unusually high.
“The big reason why cheer squad’s appeal is large is because they’re a newer organization and they’re still getting their feet off the ground,” Semple said. “These aren’t purchase requests that they’re going to be making every year. Once they have mats, they have mats.”
As the cheer squad’s request was over $5,000, joint session will hold a final vote of approval on Tuesday, Oct. 22.
In addition to the cheerleading squad’s appeal, FAB also voted to approve requests from Atlas Magazine and Films from the Margin.
Atlas Magazine’s Managing Editor and Vice President Allie Digennaro told the board that their request, which totaled $997.70, became necessary after a large expansion of their creative team. The requested funding will be used to purchase equipment for photo shoots.
After noticing a fog machine in the organization’s request, FAB lowered the appeal, citing a rule that prevents the use and storage of fog machines on campus. Atlas Magazine was instead allocated $929.72.
Films from the Margin’s request totaled $741.17 and will be used to bring in guest speakers for a screening of “The Mask.” The funding will cover plane tickets, speaking fees, and the cost of dinner for the guests.
Before approving the request, FAB moved to increase the organization’s request to $763.17, in order to satisfy the per diem rate of a meal in Boston.
