The University of Wisconsin’s Grant Allocation Committee discussed event grants for the Malaysian Student Association, Hmong American Student Association and the UW astronomy club at their meeting on March 6.

The committee also unanimously approved travel grants for the Wisconsin Student Planning Organization, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the Student National Medical Association and the field hockey club team.

The Malaysian Student Association requested a grant to host their flagship event — Malaysian Night. The event will take place April 15 and will include a two hour performance to introduce their culture to the campus and bring the UW Malaysian community together.

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“Currently at UW-Madison, we have approximately 150 Malaysian students,” Finance Chair Nur Liyana Mohd Taib said. “We want to give these students … a space for them to meet each other and rejoice in our culture and also to introduce other international friends to the Malaysian culture itself.”

The grant was approved unanimously by the council.

The second proposal was made by the Hmong American Student Association to host their 2023 spring conference on campus. For the first time since 2018, the conference will feature workshops with four professionals on culture, education and professionalism. The conference will also include a keynote speaker and a dinner. This second grant was also approved unanimously by the council.

The astronomy club’s proposal of hosting an astronomy researcher to speak on-campus was denied by the committee due to the club’s plans to fundraise at the event. The proposal was rejected by a vote of 4-3-0, with GAC Chair Andrew Pietroske providing the final vote to break the tie.

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The Wisconsin Student Planning Organization will send 10 members to the National Planning Conference in Philadelphia this spring using the grant provided by the GAC. The Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority will use their grant to send four members to their yearly Central Region Conference in Milwaukee. The Student National Medical Association will use the funding approved by the GAC to send some of their members to the Annual Medical Education Conference in Hartford, Connecticut for minorities working in the medical field.

Finally, the field hockey club team will utilize their grant to fund their trip to nationals in Virginia Beach this spring, with 18 members competing.

The Grant Allocation Committee will meet again March 20.