Clubs asked for $200,000 in funding this year at Le Moyne, going above the expected $140,000. As a result, clubs have complained about a lack of funding.

The Organizational Finance and Review Committee [OFRC], the standing committee for the Student Government Association [SGA], first comes up with the budget available for each club based on their activities and planned events. The SGA then approves each amount given to the clubs.

At the beginning of each year, $120,000 is set aside for clubs, but the total of $300,000 is released at once because a chunk of it is set aside for travel as well as academic activities, according to Director of Campus Life and Leadership John Haley.

“Usually clubs will ask for about $140,000 to $150,000, which is kind of close, but this year they asked for close to $200,000,” Haley said. “So this year we had a lot of clubs ask for a whole lot more money than they ever asked. Everybody got cut.”

Haley was only able to give information about a few of the club’s budget cuts this year, as the numbers are not open to the public. The Outing Club was cut around $600 and the Communications Club was cut around $800, while clubs such as Ultimate Frisbee were granted $1,000 more than they were beforehand.

According to Haley, each club this year was granted, on average, close to $1200.

A significant amount of money is set aside for certain organizations on campus who are guaranteed a specific amount each year. This money is put on reserve and does not have to go through the OFRC because these organizations are crucial to Le Moyne’s success and accomplishments. These programs include the Residence Hall Association and resident advisors, the shuttle provided for students, club sports, trips that the faculty take their students on, the Performing Arts program, and the Le Moyne Student Programing Board.

Karleigh Volk, co-chair of Le Moyne Student Programming Board [LSPB], said that these club cuts could possibly be a positive thing for her club. Since LSPB has a certain amount of money on reserve each year, more clubs will be coming to Volk, hoping for LSPB to fund their events and allow for more club collaboration. These collaborative events allow lesser known clubs to become more well known and involve more students.

President of Ultimate Frisbee Club Lucas Morrissey said his club requested to receive $3,613.60 and ended up receiving $2,290. This money that they requested, Morrissey informed, was intended for expenses such as tournament costs, gas reimbursement, uniforms, and discs. Their demand was not met, therefore, the team plans on raising money outside of their given funds and will sell discs to other teams to raise money for tournament fees and to help with the cost of jerseys.

“Other clubs might be in more dire situations,” Morrissey said, “but we have enough people and ideas to keep ours running.”