By Roderick Macioch
Staff Writer
During its final meeting of the semester on Wednesday, April 27, the Student Finance Board (SFB) funded summer retreats and events that will take place early next semester.
The Leadership Development Program (LDP) presented its proposal for its Fall Leadership Retreat, which is “an overnight trip open to all TCNJ students to help (improve their) leadership skills, such as confidence, communication and public speaking. This is also a great time for the leaders of TCNJ to come together and bond while trying to brainstorm ways to improve student activities on campus,” according to the request form presented by LDP.
The board voted to fully grant LDP’s request in the amount of $6,616.75 to cover expenses including lodging and transportation.
The retreat is scheduled to take place from Friday, Oct. 14, to Saturday, Oct. 15.
Representatives of the College Union Board (CUB) proposed their plan for CUB’s Summer Retreat and Training for executive board members. As stated in CUB’s request form, the retreat is “an opportunity for the new executive board to bond with one another through various activities, while also having a designated time to train.” Overall, the trip “is an essential part of the board’s cohesiveness, effectiveness and understanding of the inner-workings of being on the executive board,” according to the form.
The board voted to fully fund the event, in the amount of $2,000, to pay for lodging and refreshments.
The retreat will take place from Friday, Aug. 5, to Sunday, Aug. 7.
Women in Learning and Leadership (WILL) then proposed A March to End Rape Culture featuring Laci Green. According to WILL’s request form, “the purpose of this event is to bring to campus Laci Green, a popular YouTube Star whose online work on sex education has led to her hosting MTV’s first original online show, ‘Braless.’” Overall, “the benefit of this activity would be to raise awareness of the negative ways we talk about women and sexuality and to educate the TCNJ community about how to reduce sexual violence,” according to the form.
In total, WILL requested $13,500 for Green’s appearance. The event was tabled in hopes that a less expensive speaker can be found or a lower price can be negotiated with Green.
WILL also requested funding for an appearance by politician and activist Liz Abzug. This event, co-sponsored by Women in Business, will “create a conversation about the importance of having women and girls in leadership position, and to inspire women to lead and be more politically engaged,” according to the request form.
The event was fully funded in the amount of $3,000 to pay for Abzug’s appearance fee and travel expenses.
The event will take place on an undetermined evening in October and is tentatively planned to be held in the Business Building Lounge.
TCNJ Italian Club requested funding for its San Gennaro Festival Bus Trip. The trip will “bring students to Little Italy, the neighborhood in New York City where the Italian American culture was truly born. The annual festival of San Gennaro brings together Italian Americans from near and far with food, games and festivities in which TCNJ students can immerse themselves in the culture for a day,” according to the request form.
The board voted to fully grant TCNJ Italian Club’s request in the amount of $1,135.20 to pay for the bus.
The trip is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 25.
Chabad proposed Farbreng-It-On, co-sponsored by Alpha Epsilon Pi and Hillel. According to Chabad’s request form, “a ‘Farbrengen’ is a traditional Chassidic gathering, usually held to commemorate a significant date in the Chabad calendar. It is a time for inspiration and motivation to kick start a new year.” The event aims to educate “the campus community on an old Jewish tradition full of joyful energy that can be enjoyed by students of all backgrounds,” according to the form.
Funding in the amount of $650, to cover the costs of decorations, utensils and paper goods, was granted by the board.
The event will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 31. The time and location have not yet been announced.
The final order of business was the Black Student Union’s (BSU) summer retreat, designed to provide an opportunity “to reflect on the year (BSU has) had and to work on amplifying programs that were successful, and restructuring others that weren’t, and creating new programs to further engage students,” according to BSU’s request form.
In all, BSU requested $2,000 for its hotel rooms.
Due to the lack of information that BSU was able to provide regarding the event, the board voted to table the event.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
