On October 4th, 2022, the Student Government Association (SGA) hosted its first Town Hall since 2019. The event was newsworthy, to say the least. The Whited Room was packed with around two hundred student-athletes, SAAC representatives, and the entire SGA. SGA provided food to entice students to attend. President Jonathan Okereke fielded questions on behalf of the entire SGA while Adviser Chris Ciocchetti moderated the discussion. The discussion began with President Okereke's welcome message, followed by a statement given by SAAC President Ethan Little. What started off as a civil discussion quickly became heated and likened to a debate. 

As a Senator of SGA and the Section Head of The Conglomerate’s News & Worldview, I feel it is my duty to be upfront about where my biases might lie; however, I will remain impartial to the best of my ability throughout this report. Everything stated here was fact-checked by the VP of Finance, Andrew Turner, and the President himself, wherein these individuals are bound by Oath to give a full and accurate report. I spoke with each of them to gather the correct information about one of the most contentious topics at the Town Hall—the SGA and Athletic Department budgets. 

According to the SGA Bylaws, which are available for viewing on the Engage website, the distribution of student fees allowing the SGA to operate are as follows: 

• The Office budget of the SGA shall receive 11% of student fees. 

• The Resolutions budget of the SGA shall receive 19.5% of student fees. 

• The Centenary Activities Board shall receive 26% of student fees. 

• Any unallocated excess fees (the remaining 43.5%) shall go to the SGA Resolutions budget.

• All expenses on allocations must be made public to the student body via social media and letters at the end of each semester.

Over the course of the last few weeks, student-athletes and members of SAAC were in communication with the SGA Finance Committee over the funding of “hype videos” for each of the school’s athletic teams. The hype videos are compilations of practice and game-day footage that can be shared on social media. In defense of the videos, student-athletes argued they are useful for recruiting new players and boosting the current student athletes’ morale. 

Although SGA allocated money to create the videos last spring semester, some members argue the videos would not be a wise use of the students’ fees this year. The hype videos are estimated to cost anywhere between $3,000 and $10,000. For the student-athletes to request the money from SGA, an official cost would need to be reported in a resolution document drawn up by the student-athletes in accordance with the SGA’s formal allocation process. At the time of the Town Hall, no official cost or resolution was presented to the SGA to request funding for the hype videos. 

The only way for the SGA to finance the videos would be to use up the remaining $2,000.00 in the Resolutions Fund and tap into the unallocated excess money from student fees. One of the leading causes of confusion during the Town Hall stemmed from the student athletes’ impression that SGA has access to around $102,000 collected from student fees. The truth is that each student pays $170 in student fees each year, but the SGA only receives 19.5% from each student for the Resolutions Fund. The SGA’s Resolutions Fund is used to finance chartered organizations, student travel for research, campus improvements, Homecoming, Centenary Appreciation Week, and anything else that enhances the quality of life for the student body. So overall, SGA only receives $33.15 from each student to make up the Resolutions Fund. This means that SGA begins the semester with only $17,171.70 in the Resolutions Fund without tapping into the unallocated excess money. The SGA oversees unallocated excess money and distributes it to fund the school’s media organizations like Pandora, The Conglomerate, and the Film Society. This money is not typically purposed to finance things like hype videos, campus improvements, student travel, events, etc. 

The consequence of repeatedly tapping into the unallocated excess money would limit the future SGA spending for years to come, during which it is impossible to know what the future expenses of the SGA or media organizations might be. Of the $17,171.70 in the Resolutions Fund, SGA has already spent $15,171.70 to finance Homecoming, Welcome Week events, the Kosovo Delegation, ISA events, Monthly Mixers, and Thirsty Thursdays. Additionally, the Resolutions Fund approved fast cash for ISA, TKE, ZTA, KA, Tri-Beta, and Tabletop Games. This leaves the SGA with $2,000.00 in the Resolutions Fund to use over the course of the rest of the Fall semester. Herein lies the problem with financing the hype videos. The consequence of spending the remainder of the Resolutions Fund on the hype videos is that it would leave the SGA with no money to finance any other resolutions that students or SGA chartered organizations like the Maroon Mob, Pre-health Society, Chemistry Club, AED, BSU, La Legion Louisianaise, Psi Chi, Outreach, MSA, and ISA, etc. might present.

This is what was not clearly communicated at the Town Hall, leading to much confusion among students. What became evident that night was that many students were not even aware that they paid a student fee to fund the SGA Resolutions Fund, Media organizations, and SGA Executive Council. President Okereke is currently in the process of advocating for the student fee to be made clear in the students’ Financial Package. This way, students will not be surprised or blindsided in the future by the mandatory student fee. The Cabinet members of the college are scheduled to vote on this amendment on October 25th, 2022. 

As of October 24th, 2022, funding for the hype videos has yet to be secured. However, David Orr, the Director of Athletics & Recreation, explained that he would speak with the athletic coaches to potentially reach an agreement to adjust the Athletic Department budget to finance the hype videos.

For clarifying and simplifying purposes, this article describes a condensed version of the SGA budget and distribution of the student fees. For a further breakdown, please reach out to the SGA Finance Committee.

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