UPDATED: Nov. 14, 2019 at 12:53 a.m.

Student Association’s Finance Board allocated almost $23,000 for former press secretary Sean Spicer to visit campus.

Syracuse University’s chapter of College Republication was given the funds to host Spicer next semester, according to budget documents provided to The Daily Orange. Spicer made many controversial and false statements during his six months as press secretary in 2017. He is currently a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars.”

In total, the Finance Board allocated about $378,000 to 48 registered student organizations at Syracuse University for the spring semester.

SA Comptroller Stacy Omosa presented the semester allocations at last Monday’s Assembly meeting. This semester is the first time the comptroller has shared the budget document outside of the organization, said John Fisher, SA public relations chair.

SU’s chapter of College Democrats did not request any funding, according to the budget document.

The maximum amount that any organization could receive was $90,000. The board’s smallest allocation was $350 to Slow Food, a food and nutrition focused nonprofit, for Café Kubal espresso training.

Other large allocations include almost $40,000 to the First Year Players and just over $23,000 for the Pride Union’s drag show finals.

Six organizations received partial funding for their events, including Omega Psi Phi and the National Society for Black Engineers.

The Finance Board received $857,145 worth of funding requests for the spring 2020 semester but only had $450,000 available. A total of 84 event budgets were denied with some student organizations submitting budget requests for multiple events.

“There’s going to be cuts regardless,” Omosa said. “We just don’t have enough money for what people request.”

The Finance Board denied $87,735 in funding for The National Pan-Hellenic Council’s Greek Unity Festival Concert. The council planned on bringing in an artist who had already come to SU and whom the student body did not have a good experience with, according to the allocation report.

The College Republicans were denied $6,114 to bring Michael Knowles, a conservative political commentator, to campus. Knowles came under fire in September for calling teen climate activist Greta Thunberg “a mentally ill Swedish child” on a Fox News program.

A University of Missouri-Kansas City student attacked Knowles during a speech in April titled “Men are not Women,” which some students said was anti-transgender, Inside Higher Ed reported.

SA’s Finance Board said the organization should focus its efforts on its other fully funded event. The organization has not had significant programming in the past, according to the allocation report.

Many of the organizations denied funding failed to properly complete their applications, Omosa said. Four magazines were denied funding because they did not provide three quotes for printing costs in their application. Renegade Magazine was denied funding for not going to fiscal training.

Other organizations did not receive funding because their event exceeded the cost per student limit that all registered student organizations have to follow. Omosa said in May that the limit was approximately $45.

Appeals for the organizations denied funding were due Friday at 5 p.m. Just over $116,000 remained for any appeals. Organizations can seek later funding through SA’s special programming fund.

SA can also fund events through its rollover fund. Rollover is made up of the sum of money remaining in SA’s budget from the previous academic year and is not included in the semester allocations. The funds used are determined jointly by the president, vice president and comptroller.

SA’s rollover funds total for this year was just $100,000, a substantial decrease compared to last year’s $250,000, said SA President Mackenzie Mertikas.

“It’s more initiative-based, what we’re looking to spend that money on (this year),” Mertikas said. “It’s what’s going to affect the student body most positively.”

Last year, rollover funds were at the center of a debate within SA regarding “Cuse Can!” — an event SA hosted last spring. Several Assembly members complained at the time that they had little input in the planning of the event, which cost $242,000. Mertikas said she would seek approval from the Assembly for any use of rollover funds moving forward.

“We make the final decision, but we would bring anything to the Assembly and our cabinet before we spend that money,” said Mertikas.

Omosa is planning to release the full budget to the student body via email as part of her commitment to financial transparency, she said. Transparency was a key component of her April campaign for comptroller.

Editor’s note: In a previous version of this post, Phi Beta Sigma’s budget was listed. It has since been removed. Also, Omega Phi Beta and One World Dance Troupe were listed. Those organizations have been removed.

Published on November 10, 2019 at 9:54 pm

Contact Chris: [email protected]