Giving A Little Aid

At a school that prides itself on outreach to both the local and global communities, humanitarian groups have often faced a crunch for funds. Columbia’s overcomplicated system of allocating money to organizations has left many aid groups without the resources they need. Humanitarian groups were recently placed under the jurisdiction of the Student Governing Board. However, the board says they lack the money they need to fund these added groups. As these student organizations serve an important purpose in the community and exemplify Columbia’s mission as a global university, it is essential that they be fully funded and supported.

Humanitarian groups have had a long and difficult past in terms of seeking student group recognition. The groups were formerly recognized by the Activities Board at Columbia, however because new groups under ABC are not allocated funds for their first three years, many leaders of social justice clubs were forced to pay out of pocket for a group’s travel and supplies. Recently, the clubs were moved from the Activities Board to the SGB.

In many ways, the change is a good one—SGB can provide more money to groups with significantly less red tape than for groups under ABC. However, the governing board was not given enough support to do justice to the new groups under its umbrella. SGB has complained that the student councils, which allocate money to SGB, have not taken into account the financial strains from the added groups. As a result, leaders say they will be forced to shift funds from the clubs it already supports in its next budget. The student councils should work with administrators to find money to support these groups, giving SGB a chance to allocate funds next semester with the stipulation that the money go only to humanitarian groups.

The complicated position of campus humanitarian groups highlights the need for reform in the organization of student groups as a whole. The jurisdictional boundaries between SGB and ABC are at times fuzzy and leave some organizations, such as humanitarian groups, without clear backing. The governing boards should work together to make sure that it is clear which groups fit under which board—every group should have a place to go and a way to access funds easily. Rather than viewing this as no more than a reappropriation of SGB and student council funds for humanitarian groups, student leaders and administrators ought to step back and carefully consider the problems with the current system, and in restructuring budgets, reasses the relations between ABC, student council, and SGB so that all student groups can receive funds quickly and easily.