The Student Government Association voted against investing $675,000 from the Student Impact Fund into Emerson’s endowment Friday.
By an 8-7 vote in the form of a secret ballot for a “more authentic vote,” Executive President Nandan Nair said, the proposal did not pass and SGA will not move forward with investing unused Student Impact Funds into the endowment. The final decision came after several discussions during the weekly general assembly amid much pushback from some students who expressed concerns about where the investment itself would go.
“I am sorry, you guys did not come up with an effective plan in time,” one student, who did not identify themselves, said. “This is not even our money.”
Many members of SGA spoke in favor of the proposal, having worked on it.
“I am really proud of this scholarship,” Executive Treasurer Oliver Katz said. “I’ve put so much time and effort into this plan, it supports my general values.” He added “it is difficult wrestling to balance what we know the student need is.”
Katz did acknowledge that he cannot fully endorse the proposal. “We do not know where it is going … do not know if it is going to defense companies … or [companies] that do not support my right to live as a proud gay man or most authentic Jewish life.”
Nair has been outspoken about the investment being part of SGA’s legacy to help financially support Emerson students. At least one student pushed back against this notion: “What legacy do you expect?” the student asked. The student also said that the Emerson administrators at the April 4 meeting “pressured everybody.”
“Anytime we bring people in, it is never our genuine intention to pressure [students],” Executive Vice President Kayla Armbruster said. “It is to add clarification with people who know more about this endowment.”
Non-Traditional Senator Christian Sullivan made a motion to amend the agreement for the resolution of the endowment proposal SGA voted on, S. Res. 7 ahead of the vote. In regards to the financial aid and scholarships created from the investment returns, the amendment revised the wording from students with “some financial need” to “significant financial need,” and took out mention of on-campus leadership.
“There wouldn’t be consideration of how [students] are involved on campus,” Executive Vice Treasurer Angus Abercrombie said. “Otherwise, it is the exact same agreement as last week.”
Several SGA senators spoke in favor of the amendment.
“Around 98% of students at Emerson have some sort of need or student aid index,” Katz said. “As long as your SAI is not exactly what our tuition is … you are eligible for this scholarship when it becomes available.”
Katz brought this up as concerns arose that the financial aid and scholarships created after the proposed investment would not necessarily help middle-class students. For example, students who do not qualify for Pell Grants or external aid.
“What we can do is ensure [the investment] will go toward people who need help the most,” Sullivan said. “It is a very popular opinion … I think these are the kind of values we’re supposed to stand on at this school.”
Fraternity and Sorority Life Senator Christian MacKenzie asked about the likelihood of the same plan being put before SGA in the next academic year.
“Frankly, this is a really strong plan [that] next year’s administration has a lot of reasons to like,” Abercrombie, who is also the executive vice president-elect, said. “It depends on the general assembly … what students ask for.”
SGA also began its annual budget review of all the student organizations on campus. Katz explained that the treasury reviews by budget, membership, goals, and appeals. The overall annual allocated budget was $921,163.
Asian Students in Alliance is one of the student organizations requesting a decrease in its budget—$12,000 less.
“To not have a massive decrease for students,” Abercrombie said, he made a motion to amend the senior class council budget by about $4,000. This was to allocate funds to five other student organizations, “targeting groups serving the same subset of students,” he said, referring to ASIA.
The Senior Class Council budget, according to the Financial Advisory Board draft allocation, is $70,000.
