In a meeting Monday, the Undergraduate Finance Committee unanimously voted to reject Student Assembly’s resolution that would have provided scholarship funds to the governing councils of Greek organizations based on completion of Dartmouth Bystander Initiative leadership training sessions.
Passed by the Assembly on March 25, the policy said that if 25 members or half the sophomore and junior class of a Greek organization participated in a six-hour DBI leadership training session, its governing council could receive $2,000 in dues-assistance funds.
Up to $30,000 would be allocated in total, the proposal stated. The Assembly, fully funded by the UFC, has an annual budget of $58,000, said former UFC chair and committee member Rohail Premjee ’14.
UFC chair Eli Derrow ’15 said committee members first learned of the Assembly’s proposal on Monday. That afternoon, 17 members convened to discuss the resolution in relation to the student activity fee and concluded that it violated several UFC practices and procedures.
Money from the student activity fee — an $81 required termly payment that the UFC allocates — is largely allocated to non-selective campus organizations. This would prohibit the use of the fees for Greek organizations’ financial aid, Derrow said.
In response to the committee’s concerns, student body president Adrian Ferrari ’14 said the program would create a “public good” for everyone, not just affiliated students.
The proposal would have given over half of the Assembly’s budget to the Greek Leadership Council’s five sub-councils, and the UFC prohibits the sharing of money between the nine UFC-funded organizations without prior permission.
Derrow noted that the resolution was not included in the Assembly’s original budget proposal or discussed with the UFC during its final winter term meeting, and that the funds distributed to the Greek sub-councils would not be spent during the current fiscal year, which violates UFC rules.
Although Premjee said he could not disclose what members said in the meeting, he described it as a “thorough discussion” that lasted around two hours. The committee also interviewed Ferrari and other Assembly executives about the proposal.
Premjee said that after receiving UFC approval, throughout a given term, an organization can make small changes to its budget. This policy does not apply when the change impacts over half of the organization’s budget.
“We can’t have students take reign over this large sum of money without having checks and balances,” Premjee said.
The UFC also voted to sanction the Assembly for its proposal.
“We try not to micromanage these organizations, but we do intervene on rare occasions, as a disciplinary body, if there is financial mismanagement,” Premjee said. “And in this case, there was.”
Ferrari said he was not surprised by the UFC’s decision, as the committee is bound by strict rules, but questioned whether the policy-focused Assembly should be beholden to an “undemocratically” elected group geared toward programming.
“I can’t give $2,000 to low-income students who want to rush, after a house has stepped forward to make campus safer?” Ferrari said. “Where are our priorities?”
Premjee said funds for dues assistance could come from a number of sources, including the Dean of the College, the President’s Office or the GLC.
Beta Alpha Omega fraternity president Chet Brown ’15 said he hopes the committees find other methods of funding, but he emphasized that the decision to go through DBI training should not be based on financial incentives.
Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity president Anka Tezcan ’15 said all fraternity members should participate regardless of monetary reasons, and noted that he would continue to urge people to do so.
Alpha Theta coed fraternity president Cristy Altamirano ’15 described the UFC’s decision as unfortunate, as the proposal could increase economic diversity among the Greek organizations and create safer spaces on campus.
The UFC’s 21-person membership is comprised of 11 students, representatives from the nine Dartmouth governing organizations and a non-voting advisor.
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended: April 3, 2014
The original version of this story mischaracterized the types of organizations to which the UFC allocates money. While it is largely allocated to non-selective campus organizations, it is not exclusively allocated to these organizations. The article also misstated the constituency that the UFC meets with from the Assembly — the UFC meets with a liaison between the two organizations, not the Assembly itself. The student activities fee is not included in tuition, though students are required to pay it, and the UFC prohibits the sharing of money between the nine UFC-funded organizations without prior permission, not all organizations.
