The Student Services Finance Committee approved two student groups in its last eligibility meeting Monday.
Movimiento Estudiantil Chican@ de Aztlán is the parent group of a national organization that focuses on Chican@ history and culture. MEChA also organizes the four-day Raza Outreach to discuss minority issues and reach out to the student community.
The leaders, mostly seniors, said they saw the approval as a way to continue history.
“I’m a senior, so I feel like it is amazing that we’re going to have money for the upcoming people,” Amanda Villanueva, a CulturArte coordinator, said. “By continuing what MEChA does as an organization and movement … I feel really proud of this history we’re making.”
Villanueva said she was worried about obtaining funds but thought the group represented itself well.
“We’ve always been through this process, always having to prove to the campus and to [the Associated Students of Madison] what we do does matter and does create change,” Villanueva said.
While the majority of the SSFC members said MEChA met the criteria and voted approval, Secretary Brett DuCharme said the group did not adequately support experiential learning, leadership development and engagement.
DuCharme said his main opposition was that Raza Outreach, which MEChA considers core programing, is a four-day event, not a multifaceted campaign.
“The committee decided, and so I stand by the committee’s decision,” DuCharme said. “I just define campaign differently than they do. Simply going off the definitions and interpreting and being consistent across all groups, I define ‘campaign’ more narrowly.”
Atheists, Humanists, & Agnostics also received eligibility unanimously with four abstentions.
