A&O Productions and Mayfest will likely enjoy increased funding from the Associated Student Government for the coming year, as the Student Activities Funding Board announced its recommendations for A-status student groups Wednesday night.
Hillel is also eyeing a large increase, as its $40,648 recommendation is 68 percent more than its allocation last spring.
SAFB chair Seva Rodnyansky announced the recommendations at the ASG Senate meeting Wednesday.
A&O, which puts on the A&O Ball and a number of other events, got a $278,529 recommendation — the highest of any group, and 10 percent more than what it received last spring. With a $143,640 recommendation, Mayfest, which plans Dillo Day, won the second-highest figure and an eight-percent increase over last spring.
No other group received more than about $42,000, the amount recommended for the College Democrats for the coming year. That’s a sharp drop from the approximately $71,000 it received last year: SAFB cited the group’s “financial misconduct” and generally smaller events for the decline.
A-status groups have one week to respond to the recommendations. Next Wednesday, ASG begins finalizing the numbers.
SAFB recommended about $10,000 more for two of A&O’s major concerts: the fall show and the A&O Ball. The fall concert “has been a resounding success year-on-year,” SAFB’s funding booklet noted.
Hillel is set to gain more than $15,000 compared to last spring’s amount, and most of the increased money would go toward a winter speaker. SAFB said this was due to Andy Samberg’s sold-out performance in April.
“We think it’s a testament to our programming and the hard work that we put in to using the Student Activities Fund in a way that students appreciate and can make good use of,” Hillel President Scott Topal said.
The College Democrats are in line to get $30,000 less than this past year, because the group did not follow funding rules and put on several smaller events rather than one large one.
“It is a little disappointing,” College Democrats President Lily Becker said. “We are a programming group, so we do count on getting a lot of funding. But at the same time we’re looking for other ways to reach out to students on campus.”
“I think we’ll take it in stride, and I think we’re still going to put on a really great event in the fall.” Becker hopes that the group will build enthusiasm and get students to the polls for the 2008 election.
For a visual guide to the funding recommendations, click here.