WSA votes to fund Haiti, diversity events

By Megan Higdon
Western Herald

Although many student organizations find themselves receiving funding through the Western Student Association’s Allocations Committee, the WSA also has a budget of its own, which it can use to sponsor events.

The starting balance for the WSA’s collaborations fund was $12,000 and has not depreciated by much since August — $11,320 remains.  Making use out of what they have, the WSA executive board decided to support two events at Western Michigan University that will be beneficial to students. However monies cannot be given to any organizations before the senate has voted on whether or not the sum is appropriate and it is to be used for a solid purpose.

The first event that WSA decided to collaborate on is the International Programs Council’s event to raise funds for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. Darius Machado, an IPC member, provided a brief description of the event to WSA.  All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Red Cross.

“I really hope this event will be big and we can raise a lot of money,” Machado said.

The event’s projected budget is $830.40, which covers food, security, rent and advertising. Student tickets will be between $2 and $3 and the event will be held on Friday, March 12 in the East Ball room of the Bernhard Center.

“We need everyone to get the word out,” Machado said. Funding for the event was voted upon and passed 70-0-0.

The next event WSA has decided to fund is “Leading the Diverse Campus,” which will be put on by the WSA Diversity Guidance Committee in collaboration with OUTspoken, Alpha Omega Coed Christian Fraternity, Hillel at WMU, Sigma Kappa Sorority, and Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. The event will include dinner, speaker Michael Harris, Ph.D, and a mixer in which all registered student organizations will be allowed to create a display to showcase their organization at the event.  The cost of the event will be $2,375 and will cover the catering, DJ, fliers, projector and a gift for the speaker.

“Dr. Harris will speak for free,” said  Amit Harris, diversity guidance chair of WSA. “He’s got a very diverse, and worldly perspective.”

Michael is Amit’s father. The event also passed with a vote of 66-0-6.

“I think this is a great capstone to finish off the year,” said Student Elections Control Chair Alex Roman during the discussion.  The Diverse Campus event will be held Thursday, March 18 at 6 p.m. at the Fetzer Center.

Also, Matt Lafleur, a senior at WMU, was appointed to the WSA-AC. He was approved 62–0-2.

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Posted by heraldstaff on Feb 17 2010. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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