On Wednesday, April 8, Washburn Student Government Association reconvened in the Kansas Room for its regular weekly meeting, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Funding proposals, a revision to the budget and updates to election procedures were all reviewed and approved during the nearly an hour long meeting.
The meeting began with roll call and the review of previous meeting minutes. Key updates included the funding policy, upcoming events and safety walk and accessibility report.
The meeting then moved on to approve several funding requests. Danny Bottom requested funding to attend a selective leadership institute for fraternity Sig-Epsilon. Similarly, Elvia Nino-Elliott, senior marketing and sociology major, requested funding to send delegates to the summer convention in Baltimore.
The meeting moved to Public Forum II. Lillian Clark, vice president and Taylor Redington, campus and community affairs director worked together to organize the annual safety walk where students along with invited faculty and staff walked around campus at night to promote safety where 42 concerns were reported. The results were shared with campus officials along with recommendations to fix issues, create a reporting form and continue the walk each year.
Similarly, the meeting moved to an audit of Homecoming and WSGA. Teresa Clounch, acting vice president for Student Life, explained that for the 2025 homecoming $6500 was received from WSGA and used across different activities. The funds covered food for the BOD Bash, giveaways, a dance floor, longboards, awards, appreciation gifts for judges and flowers for Ichabod Honors mentioning the homecoming budget is funded exclusively by students.
Student Life has a partnership with WSGA where over the past four years, WSGA involvement has gone up and down at different times. Right now, the involvement is active. When WSGA was less involved, Student Life brought in student interns to act as student leaders. This helped to keep students involved in the work and decision making.
Clounch said the extra funding would go toward next Homecoming items and events. This includes top hats, items with the Homecoming logo, window clings, parade permits and T-shirts. It also includes balloon stands and about $1,700 for parade traffic control to keep people safe.
The meeting then moved to the WSGA portion of the audit. Kate Coulter, WSGA president, presented a presentation directed by Meredith Ginn, budget director, on analyzing WSGA spending in 2025.
The elections budget showed $600 was allocated for campaign materials but none of it was used, so spending is at 0%. End of year awards and the banquet are also still at 0% because they have not been completed or purchased yet. Special Events has spent 0% so far but is currently working with campus and community affairs for an upcoming event.
The Executive branch has used 63% of its budget while the Legislative branch has spent 65%, bringing total spending to 64%. A portion of the budget remains and may be used before June 30 for office upgrades, logistical needs and funding requests from student organizations, depending on decisions by the next administration.
Senator Nick Llyod raised concern about a large expense used to bring a comedian to campus, saying that only a small number of students attended.
“I personally don’t think that we should be spending $33,000 on a single guy […] because $33,000 represents half of the cab’s budget on one event. WSGA put in $6500 for Homecoming and attendance is definitely more than 60-70 which was for a whole week of events,” Llyod said.
The meeting concluded with discussions on budget use, event funding and future planning. Senators reviewed current spending, raised concerns about major expenses and noted that remaining funds may be used before the end of the fiscal year.
Edited by Bidhya Sapkota and Stuti Khadka
