The Dean of the College's Office is seeking to end its direct financial support for the Afro-American Society, Dean of the College Tom Crady informed AAm members at a March 29 meeting, according to AAm Vice President Julian Thomas '09. At the meeting, Crady said he encouraged AAm executive board members to look for alternative sources of funding in light of budget reductions, although no final funding decisions have been made.
Thomas said in an interview with The Dartmouth that Crady told AAm executive board members at the meeting that the AAm will no longer receive College funding through the Office of Pluralism and Leadership, although he added that the College has agreed to renew funding through the next fiscal year, ending in summer 2010.
Any funding changes will substantially disrupt the AAm's programming, Thomas said.
Crady, however, said that no permanent funding changes have been made. Crady said he had suggested that the AAm board request funding from the Council on Student Organizations, but that he would not require it to do so.
The Dean of the College's Office is reassessing the AAm's situation as part of a comprehensive effort to analyze "every expenditure" in the office's budget and reduce expenses, Crady said.
"Right now, we just don't know what the next year's going to bring financially," Crady said. "What I'm doing is simply asking questions about where money has gone in the past, where it's going in the future."
The only other culture organizations funded through the office is the Dartmouth Native American Program.
It is unclear whether parts of the program will face funding cuts. Agatha Erickson '09, president of Native Americans at Dartmouth, declined to comment on the group's funding situation.
Most groups that operate under COSO have not faced budget cuts, according to Elizabeth Agosto, associate director of the Collis Center and Student Activities. COSO receives its funding from the student activities fee, which generally remains constant each year.
Because all students pay to fund student activities, Agosto said, COSO organizations must open their programming events to the entire campus.
Any groups that limit participation -- including performance groups that require auditions -- must be funded by a separate discretionary budget.
These restrictions are problematic for AAm, Thomas said, because many of AAm's cultural events specifically target the black community.
"Right now, there's a lot of gray area because it seems the administration approached the situation without thinking of a solution," Thomas said. "Under COSO, a lot of the programming that the Afro-American Society does wouldn't be able to function."
The AAm sponsors performance groups, including the Ujima Dance Troupe and the Black Underground Theater Organization, as well as the Dartmouth Alliance for Children of Color, which gives children of color living in predominantly white communities increased opportunities to experience black culture, Thomas said.
Many other student groups with a cultural or ethnic affiliation receive COSO funding for programs open to campus, Agosto said, explaining that these groups may hold independent fundraisers for closed events.
Having a separate budget has also allowed AAm to co-sponsor events with other groups, including COSO organizations, that otherwise would not be able to arrange the events because of their budgets restrictions, Thomas said.
Crady said that members of his office were reviewing the possible ramifications of converting AAm into a COSO organization. After listening to his staff's recommendations, Crady said he will discuss their findings with members of the AAm.
"COSO was willing to work with the AAm to figure out how to make the transition smooth," she said. "I can imagine that being an organization that has been independent and under the College for 40 years, and then transitioning to a different type of funding, can be choppy."
If the AAm does not receive its regular OPAL funding, Thomas said the AAm could function as a "hybrid COSO group," receiving a portion of its funding from through OPAL or the Dean of the College's Office and keeping those funds separate from its COSO support. The AAm could also be supported by external fundraising and possibly alumni donations, he added.
While there are other funding avenues that can be explored for the AAm, many of them are problematic, Thomas said. The group could attempt to create an endowment, which would require a large investment, or it could seek funding from the Undergraduate Finance Committee. UFC funding would only be sought in the "most serious" situation, Thomas said, because UFC funding also comes from the student activities fee. While the UFC is not restricted from funding an organization focused on a single minority group, it would likely be reluctant to do so because all students pay the fee, he said.
The most straightforward option would be to work with the College to restore direct funding, Thomas said.
"Dean Crady clearly does have the money to give the Afro-American Society," he said. "It's just a decision he's making."
Sam Ivery, assistant dean of student life and adviser to black students, could not be reached for comment by press time.
