by Jodie Mann
The Undergraduate Student Government Senate approved a revision to the Financial Bylaws Act on Thursday that will allow clubs to spend as much money as they want on guest speakers.
The act, which strictly limited club spending on certain activities, was passed last fall. The revision removes both the $2,000 cap on any one speaker as well as the $6,000 cap on all speakers per academic year.
Members of the Muslim Student Association approached the Senate proposing the $6,000 limit be raised to $10,000 in order to fund their annual Islamic Awareness Week, which traditionally features multiple guest speakers in one week.
Sumaiya Iqbal, president of MSA, spoke to the Senate at Thursday’s meeting about the benefits of numerous and diverse lecturers.
“Members of our club cannot access these speakers normally,” Iqbal said. “It is important for us to provide these opportunities to students.”
Senator David Adams went one step further and amended the modest MSA-inspired revision on the Senate floor to remove all limits on guest speaker funding.
“Bringing known personalities to campus is a great event idea,” Adams said.
The revision will also require that clubs wanting to contract with speakers for more than $2,000 provide proof that the speaker has been paid a similar price at a previous event. Clubs will have to provide USG with either an invoice or check from a speaker’s previous event where they were paid within 10 percent of what the club will pay them.
