At Monday’s Student Services Finance Committee meeting, representatives passed Sex Out Loud’s budget proposal of more than $100,000, and heard a presentation from Badger Supporting Peers in Laidback Listening.
Sex Out Loud budget proposal
Sex Out Loud, which promotes sexuality through sex positive education and activism, has one of the largest supply budget lines among campus organizations.
Though SSFC ultimately passed Sex Out Loud’s request, with $17,000 allocated toward supplies, SSFC Vice Chair Brett DuCharme said he wanted to make sure the amount was justified to assure the validity of the money being spent.
Multiple representatives defended the budget saying they felt it was a comparable amount for the work Sex Out Loud does.
SSFC Rep. Zachary Pravato said a large part of the group’s supplies comes out of condom distribution, which is one of the ways students become aware of Sex Out Loud on campus. Backing this statement from Pravato, Rep. David Morel said he was fine with the wages, but was curious how Sex Out Loud’s condom distribution was different than University Health Service’s.
Rep. Steisi Manço also added her input on the budget.
“I’m comfortable with keeping the supply line. I think it’s easier for students to approach other students in receiving those supplies,” Manço said. “It’s kind of an easier way to obtain [condoms] as opposed to going through UHS.”
In an 8-0 motion with one abstention, the committee approved Sex Out Loud’s budget of $103,398.
Badger SPILL
In terms of their budget, the organization requested a salary increase of $3,359, which Vice President of Finance Alex Ash said is mainly due to Associated Students of Madison’s change in hourly wages.
President Adéla Tomšejová said SPILL has been more utilized this year, with 169 sessions so far, compared to last year’s 151.
SSFC approves Sex Out Loud eligibility, debates auxiliary fund
The budget also consisted of an increase of $120 to the computer software and hardware line, while they made no changes to their advertising budget of $10,000.
“We probably have one of the largest budgets for advertising, however, since we’re a completely online based organization, we don’t have set meetings or any in-person communication, therefore advertising is absolutely crucial for increasing our presence on campus,” Tomšejová said.
The advertising line allows the group to increase its presence, and promotional items like stress balls and mugs have helped the most. She noted there was positive response to SPILL’s bus advertisements as well.
“We’ve heard a lot of good things that people reported that they learned about SPILL by seeing us on the bus so we definitely would like to do that again, especially in the next semester,” Tomšejová said.
Badger SPILL’s main budget proposal for next year is $44,373.10. The committee will decide on the group’s budget during their next meeting Thursday.
