Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

GUSA Forms Endowment Committee

In a resolution passed Sunday, GUSA voted to create a committee that will decide the fate of the $3.4 million left in the now-defunct student activities fee endowment.

The Commission on Student Activities Fee Endowment Reform will be responsible for creating a plan to allocate the funds remaining in the account by April 25. Contributions to the endowment ended after the passage of SAFE reform last semester.

Fifteen students will head the commission initiated by the Finance and Appropriations Committee. The body’s final proposal can allocate the money to up to five sources.

Thirteen of the members will represent a diverse array of organizations including The Corp, Georgetown University Alumni and Student Federal Credit Union, the Student Activities Commission, the Club Sports Advisory Board, the Center for Social Justice, Georgetown Program Board, the Media Board, the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access, GUSA executive committee and the GUSA Senate.

The commission will also include two members of the student body who are not affiliated with any of these organizations. Any student may fill out the online nomination form that was sent out on Thursday and will be available for one week. The chair of the commission will be chosen by the GUSA Fin/App Committee out of the members of the commission without GUSA ties.

Fin/App Vice Chair Colton Malkerson (COL ’13) will moderate the commission.

Malkerson said that GUSA has sent out nomination forms to all of the organizations and hopes to have the committee formed within a week or two.

He added that including such a broad array of representatives on the commission was key.

“Every single person has paid into the endowment over the years. It’s a lot of money and it’s too important of an issue for just the seven members of FinApp to decide,” Malkerson said. “We hope that by bringing in representatives from across campus and expanding the conversation beyond GUSA we will hear the best ideas and have a more informed deliberation.”

So far, Rich Rinaldi (MSB ’12), former staff development director for The Hoya, has been chosen to represent the media board along with Georgetown’s NAACP president, Carolyn Chambers (COL ’11), who will be representing the Center for Multicultural Equity and Access. The two GUSA senators will be chosen during the Senate meeting next Sunday to sit in on the commission.

“Whether it’s students, alumni or administrators, everyone should come before the commission and present their ideas,” Malkerson said.

The commission will meet for the rest of the semester to discuss the endowment, solicit feedback from the campus community and produce a set of recommendations. The plan will then likely be put to a vote in a campus-wide referendum.

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