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University of Wisconsin’s Associated Students of Madison approved funding for the campus Homecoming Committee at its meeting Wednesday evening.
Two members of UW’s Homecoming Committee came to a student council meeting Wednesday to present their proposed funding budget to ASM, whose Finance Committee had previously approved $8,602 in funding for the organization.
UW Homecoming Committee had originally applied for $24,487 in funding for Homecoming Week.
ASM Finance Committee Chair Andrew Kidd expressed concern that approving the committee’s original application for funding would severely limit ASM funding for other groups on campus looking to apply for money from the event grant fund.
UW Homecoming Committee President Stacy Day said the current funding of $8,602 would not be able to fund the Homecoming Parade, an event which she argued is the biggest and most attended of the events during Homecoming Week.
“I would say it is one of the most visible events and most traditional events, and therefore falls on the top of our priority list,” Day said.
Day said the committee is planning to increase the security and police presence at the parade as a result of safety concerns last year.
Day said $12,300 of the proposed $19,545 space and equipment rental subset of their funding application is designated for safety and security, specifically for the payment of special duty officers from the city of Madison Police Department to be present at the parade.
ASM Vice Chair Maria Giannopoulos said last year UW Homecoming was in ASM’s internal budget, but is no longer part of the budget, thus requiring the committee to apply for funds.
Giannopoulos said ASM allocated an extra $40,000 to the event grant budget last year to cover UW Homecoming and the All Campus Party.
“The money is still being given to RSOs in the same fashion it would have been if Homecoming would not be in event grants,” she said.
Another issue brought up regarding UW Homecoming’s proposed funding was with the $3,000 it allocated for the printing of magnets to be passed out around campus.
Day said UW Homecoming was forced to send the order for magnets out in the summer to ensure they would be printed in time for Homecoming Week.
Kidd said it is stated in ASM bylaws that a group cannot apply for funding for something it already purchased.
After significant debate, ASM ultimately decided to pass legislation allow UW Homecoming to receive $20,897 for their funding this year by a vote of 13 to 4. This amount includes the necessary funding for police and other safety measures for the parade and only excludes the amount requested for magnet printing.
ASM spokesperson David Gardner said the UW Homecoming Committee has the option to appeal to the Student Judiciary Board of ASM for reimbursement of the $3,000 for printing of the magnets that was not included in its current event grant.
Gardner said these magnets have always been a part of UW Homecoming, and the timeline for printing them in previous years did not matter because the committee was a part of ASM’s internal budget, so the committee did not have to apply for its funding through event grants , as it currently is required to do.
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