SGA Held Marathon Meeting to Decide on Funding

SGA members at Monday's meeting (photo by Victoria Abad) 

By Victoria Abad, Sophia Scearce and Sarah Wysocki

The SGA voted to cut funding for most University Sponsored Organizations (USOs) ​and other campus organizations ​at their last meeting of the semester Monday ​night. The cut was due to a $20,000 deficit SGA was facing as a result of the funding requests for the 2018-2019 school year.

The meeting, which Senator Emeritus Samy Abdallah, a senior, described as “the biggest budgeting meeting ever,” lasted more than three hours and went through several waves of heated debates.

SGA Discusses Funding for Organizations

SGA financial meeting on Monday. (Photo by Bret Smith) 

By Bret Smith

The Coates University Center was the center of much debate last night as the Student Government Association had their last financial meeting of the semester.

Representatives from Trinity University Sponsored Organizations (USOs), including the Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), Trinity University Latin Association (TULA), and Outside Recreation (O-REC) all gathered at the meeting to propose budget requests for upcoming events in this semester and the next semester.

The most debated item last night was funding for O-Rec, since the organization has already gone over their budget. "It became a situation of whether SGA should help reimburse them or if that cost should go to the general student population in the form of higher fees for O-Rec trips,” said Nick Santulli, Senator Emeritus and senior political science major, who now serves an advisory role for the SGA.

SGA Failed to Vote Due to Lack of Quorom

By Joel Kumahata

The Student Government Association met Monday to reopen discussion on whether or not Greek Council, the overseer of campus fraternity and sorority organizations, would receive a budget next year.

Over 60 students from every Greek organization on campus made the trip up to the Waxahachie Room in the Coates Center to hear the decision. But as soon as the meeting was called to order, a problem became clear. Only about half of the senators were present, not nearly enough for a quorum to vote on anything.

Members from Greek organizations on campus
crowded the room of the SGA meeting Monday night

About halfway through the meeting, SGA Vice President Joseph Khalaf received an email from four of the missing senators, who were absent without giving excuses. The email read that they had elected to skip the meeting with the mindset that, in the shadow of finals, their time was better served as students studying, and not in service of their senatorial responsibilities.

Trinitonian Seeks School Funding to Become More Digital

Sophomore Jessye Castro is
 an avid reader of the campus newspaper
Photo by Kate Irvin

By Kate Irvin

Student Government Association held its regular meeting last night at the Coates University Center, where the student government body heard funding proposals from various campus organization.

Among the proposals, The Trinitonian, the campus newspaper, asked for more funding to advance the publication’s digital production.

Daniel Conrad, a junior and the chief editor of the newspaper, told the SGA the newspaper’s goals of becoming more digital and having a stronger online presence.