After a Student Judiciary ruling granted the Multicultural Student Coalition an opportunity to make their case to the Student Services Finance Committee for general student services funding, the group used outdated information and lacked several necessary documents in their presentation Monday.
MCSC submitted a 36-page eligibility application, which SSFC members noted was very similar to the document the group used to apply during the 2012-’13 fiscal year.
When Rep. Jeremy Swanson asked what was different between the group’s current application and their old one, MCSC presenter Ian Oyler said the organization had narrowed down the list of groups on campus that they would be working with to provide programming for students. He added that the new application used different wording.
However, as the committee asked questions about the application, the MCSC presenters insisted that the details of the application wouldn’t necessarily be carried out in the programming.
“I’m just wondering how much of your eligibility application would you say is wrong, because now it’s been multiple times that you’ve looked at it and said it’s not correct,” Swanson said. “[Is] there more in there that’s incorrect as well? I’m just a little confused on that.”
Additionally, MCSC was missing some documents that are required for applicants. The group also failed to outline a clear plan about how they would allocate funding for programs when they collaborate with different students and administrative groups on campus.
“We really don’t have a sense how you’re going to implement these programs and we do need it clear, not only on paper, but explained to us, how exactly you’re going to do those programs before we make you eligible to get funds for programs,” Rep. Zakkir Abdul-wahid said.
The presenters also said they wanted to ask for a condom donation from Sex Out Loud for one of their programs. However, Rep. Max Goldfarb pointed out that this would be a violation of the Associated Students of Madison’s bylaws — one organization receiving student fee funding cannot take from the funds of another.
“Seeing as we already do not have funding, we did not imagine that these timelines and plans for how we would carry out the event would be the exact way to how this would actually be carried out if we were to be granted funding,” Oyler told finance committee members.
The MCSC presenters declined to comment after the meeting. SSFC will vote on MCSC’s eligibility at their meeting Thursday.
