Our college newspaper, The Stylus, published an article yesterday which takes a surprisingly unbiased look at the recent decisions of the Brockport Student Government Board of Directors to freeze the budgets of three BSG clubs for spending club funds before getting approval (no mention as to which account the clubs spent money from). Amnesty International, SOUL, and Art Student Association now have no money to use for programming—unfortunate timing largely because it is this time of the year that clubs tend to hold the biggest events on campus (SOUL’s annual drag show, for example). Needless to say, the chatter about BSG has not been positive.
Let me say this first, clubs need to respect the business office and get clearance from them before spending money. This is as much about maintaining some order in the financial well being of the organization as it is ensuring that clubs are not spending money on things they shouldn’t—both are perfectly acceptable [1]. With that being said, I do not believe that freezing budgets is the right course of action. Clubs are the central function of BSG activity—more than the programs, more than the concerts, even more than the representation—student government’s main purpose (and where most of its funding goes) is in supporting student clubs and organizations. Freezing budgets does a disservice to the students on this campus.
The argument that, in fact, putting these kinds of “punishments” on clubs who disregard (or more likely don’t understand) BSG protocol is beneficial to the organization as a whole because it, “drive[s] the point home,” as BSG President Eric May is quoted as saying, is a decent one. Further, the claim of many in the administration that, to quote the article, “the current system seems to be working because no club has thus far made a second violation and had their budget frozen a second time,” is fair. But the case can also be made that the “lesson” being learned is not for the clubs, but for the administration. Look, even with the publicity of these rules and their punishments, clubs are still not complying with the Club Manual. Maybe, and this is just a suggestion, maybe the administration is going about this the wrong way. But that’s just me.
I believe that BSG needs to stop cracking down on clubs who “misbehave” and start reinforcing that they (this current administration) are there for the clubs, that they care and are willing to listen, and maybe even willing to work with clubs to find some common ground. Club dynamics and the pragmatic stance on leading that club members must take to have a successful organization at this school is in direct conflict with the often one-size-fits-all policies that BSG (as an organization) forces clubs to adhere to. When this happens, unfortunately, students are the ones who get screwed.
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[1] There are some things that student government fee money cannot be spent on; this is not a decision of the current administration, but a mandate by the SUNY Board of Trustees.
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