Will Catholic University Continue to Fund Its Student Service Organizations?
Image courtesy of Isabel Love
By Elliana Arnold and MaggieMae Dethlefsen
When Catholic University students felt their student service organizations were being endangered, they came out in full force to share their opinions and concerns at the February 17 SGA Senate meeting. CUA students packed the Pryzbyla Center great rooms to voice their support or opposition to the recently proposed Resolution 011.
The Resolution of Disapproval for Treasury Board Over-Allocation, sponsored by sophomore business and theology major senator Jack Hermes and cosponsored by senators Luca Albanese and Joshua Ortiz, calls for the Senate to formally disapprove of the Treasury Board’s decision to allocate $11,080 to Global Medical Brigades (GMB) and $38,325 to Habitat for Humanity.
The resolution cites that these allocations only serve approximately 26 students for GMB and approximately 50 students for Habitat to attend a single off-campus trip. It also claims that “these two allocations account for approximately 50.2% of the total Treasury Board allocations while benefiting only 2.4% of the undergraduate student body for exclusive off-campus trips.”
Habitat for Humanity was shocked to learn about the resolution, as they had not been informed in advance and found out only a few days before the senate meeting on February 17.
Joseph Petrosino, a junior biology major and the President of the CUA Chapter of Global Medical Brigades, shares that he was also alarmed and confused when news of this resolution reached him, stating that he had only found out about it a day before its presentation before the student senate.
“I was confused as to why someone would want to cut the funding for student organizations whose main purposes were to give back to the international community,” Petrosino shared.
Emma Tzimorotas, a senior elementary education major and the Habitat for Humanity Chapter President said that she was hurt that the senators “never reached out to any Habitat member for information prior to making claims about us both in this resolution and on social media platforms.”
One such claim was that the student activity fee was being forcibly given to non-students in the name of charity and that this fee should only be serving CUA students.
Tzimorotas spoke about how Habitat for Humanity uses its Treasury Board funding.
“I would like to emphasize that our chapter of Habitat has never used, nor will it ever use, any funds allocated to us by the Treasury Board as a donation to the larger Habitat for Humanity organization,” Tzimorotas said. Habitat’s funding instead goes toward expenses such as flights, lodging, food, personal protective equipment, and other related costs.
Another division occurred when students described the resolution as something that was going to “defund” these organizations. Hermes, the resolution’s sponsor, stated this was not his intention.
“There was no call to defund these programs, to abolish them, or anything of the sort,” Hermes said. “It was simply a call to more equitably distribute the funds of the Treasury Board.”
Resolution cosponsor, sophomore business major Albanese, also explained that their goal was to try and “find more equitable funding for these organizations.” One option would be to get Habitat funding from preallocation. This would mean that Habitat for Humanity would receive the same funding year to year like Program Board, Office of Campus Activities, Campus Ministry, and many more.
Campus attention to the resolution increased when a variety of student organization leaders received an email from Hermes on February 16, in which he introduced his resolution and asked student organization leaders to come in support of the resolution the next day.
Quickly following the email sent out by Hermes, Student Body Treasurer Grace Marino, a junior business and psychology double major, sent an email to student organization leaders and senators titled “Senate Resolution Follow-up and Fact Check.” In this email, Marino responded to Hermes’ email by offering corrections to misconceptions and false statements, the main one being the claim that this will “effectively [double] funding for your club next year.”
“There is no evidence to support this claim, and as mentioned before, all clubs have equal access and equal opportunity for funding,” Marino wrote. “Every student is entitled and encouraged to apply for these trips, they are not closed off to a certain population on campus.”
In an interview with Marino, she discussed the process of how clubs receive funding from the Treasury Board and of how the board makes fair decisions to uphold their responsibilities as well as the university’s mission.
Many of the misconceptions surrounding this resolution were based upon a pie chart of Treasury Board allocations, showing a significant percentage of funding being allocated to Habitat for Humanity and GMB. The pie chart was based on funds already allocated at the time. As more clubs request money over time, Habitat for Humanity’s and GMB’s percentages will go down because the denominator shifts as the year goes on and more clubs receive allocations. Right now, only 50 clubs requested funding, which is why the distribution appears as it does.
Pie chart of this year’s Treasury Board allocations.
“Historically, Habitat yields the largest amount of money every year,” said Marino. Their total looks bigger because most other clubs ask for less because their events are not big events like the spring break mission and the week excursions.
On February 17, crowds of students from both sides packed the Senate meeting to share their thoughts during public comment. Many spoke on behalf of both Global Medical Brigade and Habitat for Humanity, such as their executive boards, members who have been on service missions, and friends of those who participate in these organizations.
Delaney Harty, a senior Media and Communications major who is friends with Tzimorotas, stood up during public comment to express her support of Habitat.
“I felt compelled to speak in support of Habitat for Humanity at the SGA meeting because I have seen the transformative experience that these spring break trips are for the participants, as well as those they serve,” Harty shared to The Tower after the meeting. “Though I have never been on a trip myself, I am aware that the funding Habitat receives from the Treasury Board is essential for the service they provide for the Church, the nation, and the world–all in line with the mission of our university.”
There were also those who spoke on behalf of Jack Hermes and Resolution 011, such as sophomore politics major Owen Lee.
“I came out to Monday night’s Senate meeting to support my friend and president pro tempore senator Jack Hermes and his resolution calling for a more equitable distribution of the student activity fee,” said Lee. “We all pay into it and it is unfair for a such small group of students to receive such a large proportion of the fund.”
Petrosino and Tzimorotas shared their concerns and reasons for opposing Resolution 011.
“It would effectively defund the student organization I had spent over a year building,” said Petrosino “The resolution and senators supporting it stated that they wanted GMB and Habitat to provide alternative ‘more equitable’ routes for funding besides going to the Treasury Board, but they provided no ideas or alternatives.”
Petrosino explains that GMB only received about one-third of the funding needed for the trip, while “the remaining two-thirds of its funding was raised through fundraising events, letter-writing campaigns, individual volunteer fundraising efforts, and out-of-pocket payments by the volunteers,” all things that Habitat members were also required to do for their fundraising campaign.
According to Tzimorotas, Habitat members “have put a larger focus on fundraising this year, more than doubling the amount we have raised in previous years.”
This year, Habitat was unable to provide food to students participating in day trips, host as many events, and offer scholarships, something that students relied upon in the past to attend these trips. To decrease the allocations these groups do receive from the Treasury Board would be to either prevent the trip from happening at all or to raise the cost for students so much that it would become inaccessible.
Tzimorotas notes that “It is incredibly important that the student activity fee funds service organizations.” She expressed concerns that this resolution would set a harmful precedent for other organizations, and if it had passed, Habitat would likely lose its funding for its spring break trips, putting the future of the 30 year old chapter into question.
For those involved, Habitat and GMB have been transformative experiences and incredible opportunities for service.
Abby Brown, a sophomore Media and Communications major and a second-year Habitat spring break trip leader shared that she is deeply moved by Habitat’s mission to make safe and affordable housing for others. For Brown and Tzimorotas, Habitat is a way to extend service outside of the Catholic University community bubble, getting students to step off campus to connect with the immense amount of need across the United States.
Petrosino continues this idea in his response, saying, “GMB is meaningful to me because it puts into perspective how privileged many of us here at CUA really are while also allowing us to use that privilege to aid others.”
He explains how a student’s general ability to not worry about paying medical costs or finding treatment when ill or injured differs from others in the world and how GMB helps make medical care accessible.
“In the rural communities of Panama where we’ll be going this spring, there are only 1.6 doctors and only 0.31 dentists per 1000 people,” Petrosino stated. “It gives us the ability to care for our fellow man while also giving us a (newfound) appreciation for what we have.”
Public comment also led many students to voice their concerns on how this resolution would harm the integrity of the school’s mission and send a poor message from the school about its commitment to service.
Hermes argued that the resolution does align with the University’s mission and Catholic Social Teaching (CST).
“CST teaches that we should be advocating for the common good, not just a small fraction of students,” Hermes said. “As St. Augustine so eloquently emphasized, we have to order our love to our community and our neighbors before those several hundred miles away.”
“The Student Activity Fee is MANDATORY fee,” Hermes added. “Charity is the theological virtue by which we FREELY love God and neighbor. Those who argue that the Student Activity Fee should be spent on charity-work often fail to recognize this. I want to encourage students to give to charity freely, not because they are forced to.”
Tzimorotas disagreed, believing it is crucial for the school to support students volunteering off campus.
“Without providing ample opportunities for students to serve, Catholic University would lose the very qualities that define its Catholic identity,” said Tzimorotas.
Once it came time for the senators to vote on this resolution six senators voted in favor and the rest against, resulting in Resolution 11 not being passed. Ultimately, this Senate meeting demonstrated the extreme passion CUA students have for ensuring the well-being of the student body through the funding of its clubs, and by sharing their opinions with SGA, students demonstrated their desire to do what they believed best for their school community.
