FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 23rd, 2010

Statement on Special Allocation of the Student Activity and Club Sports Fee

On Wednesday September 22nd, the Student Association General Assembly was made aware of a
decision made by the university administration regarding the budgeting of the Student Activity and Club
Sports Fee. The decision was made without the approval or input of any part of the Student Association.
This decision follows another recent decision in the same manner regarding the allocation of space on the
first floor of the Pryzbyla Center. Though the decision was not malicious, it does illustrate a deep divide
in the philosophical vision for the Student Association.

The recent decisions made by the Office of Campus Activities and the Division of Student Life,
with regard to the Student Activity and Club Sports Fee, threaten to undermine the legitimacy of the
Student Fee Allocation Board and the oversight of the Student Association General Assembly. Students
from SFAB and SAGA spend hours tracing over every sentence, every word of funding requests, to
ensure that they are fiscal stewards of the Student Activity Fee. Today, these actions may appear futile to
them. Students should never feel as if their hard work and dedication have become obsolete to an
unchecked power. We cherish a student government of and by the students and in order to do that we
must have ability to oversee how our activity fee is spent.

It is the opinion of the majority of the General Assembly that these unilateral allocations made by
the Office of Campus Activities set a dangerous precedent for the future of the Student Association and
the Student Activity Fee. We are now faced with a discussion that must be had regarding these pseudo
block grants, which was part of a failed system of a near distant student government, and the special
treatment of some organizations over others. In addition, there has to be some kind of transparency and
oversight over this money which is still labeled for student use. Currently, the Student Association has no
form of recourse to ensure that our student fee is used wisely with regards to these special allocations.

In order to have a legitimate form of student government at Catholic University, we must be able
to have a say in how our Student Activity Fee is spent. Of course, we will certainly need guidance from
the administration and administrators, but we do not need a specialized bureaucracy. We need a helpful
hand to be there when we’re wrong and work with us to improve student life at CUA when we’re right.

Chris PIERNO, Speaker

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