ELISHA VALLADARES-CORMIER
CATHOLIC VALUES COLUMNIST
Franciscan University Student Government, during its Oct. 23 meeting, allocated funds from a now-defunct Marian club to cover a mariachi band’s travel expenses for an event celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Fall Bill #29 called for $800 to be allocated to Latinos for Christ to pay for the band’s travel. Sen. Patrick Bouchard, finance committee chair, suggested the money come from a subaccount designated for the defunct Our Lady of Sorrows Club, which held more than $1,000.
Treasurer Kelsey Scott-Avery had previously listed the number of subaccounts within Student Government’s main account and noted that the money left in Our Lady of Sorrow’s subaccount would be used for Marian clubs or events.
Scott-Avery said it would be possible for the money for the bill to be taken out of the Marian club’s subaccount. This meant Student Government’s contingency fund, which was revealed the previous week to be almost 40% less than expected, would not be affected. The bill passed without opposition.
Two other bills were passed during the meeting.
Franciscan University’s ROTC group was the beneficiary of Fall Bill #30, receiving $280 for supplies.
Fall Bill #28 reallocated $500 of the Student Creative Arts Network funds to pay for speaker Clare McCallan. The money would have been used for the club’s Film Awards and equipment. McCallan will be on campus for events on Nov. 11 and 13.
In addition to Our Lady of Sorrows, Scott-Avery reported that five other clubs had subaccounts: the Anime Club, Mary’s Meals, Students for Life, the Outdoors Club, and the Equestrian Club. Due to a switch in club funding, the Equestrian Club has been moved to the Athletic Department and took its subaccount with it.
The total left in contingency after the recalculation was $9,488.92
Vice President Alex McKenna informed the body that President Derek Markle was not at the meeting because he was attending a meeting of Shared Governance. McKenna, who had also been at the Shared Governance meeting before leaving early to chair the Student Government meeting, said the university’s decision-making body had discussed university policy on on-campus threats as well as changes to the university’s maternity and paternity leave policies.
Student Government will next meet Oct. 30 at 11 a.m. in the St. Leo Room.