The Student Activities Commission faces questions over the funding for an event advertised as co-sponsored by H*yas for Choice and Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice, which are not recognized by the university and therefore ineligible for access to club funds.
onday night’s “Bro-Choice 2: A Panel on Male Activism in the Pro-Choice Movement” was officially sponsored by United Feminists, a university-funded group granted $175 by SAC for the event on March 1. Fliers and e-mails advertising the event, however, have stated that it was co-sponsored by Plan A and H*yas for Choice, among other groups.
“We approved and funded the event as it was presented to us . United Feminists, whose constitution does not take a stance on this issue, was to host this event,” Ruiyong Chen (SFS ’13), public relations director for SAC, said in an e-mail March 17. “We do not and did not approve this event to be hosted by Plan A: Hoyas, which advocates a point of view that is not in line with the university’s Catholic identity.”
Since then, SAC has decided to investigate the matter.
“We will have to speak with United Feminists first to see what, if anything, has happened. We will then take appropriate steps from there,” Chen said.
Erica Slates (SFS ’10), vice president of H*yas for Choice, confirmed the advertised sponsors of the event, which included student groups United Feminists, H*yas for Choice, GU Men Creating Change and Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice.
“Bro-Choice was officially sponsored by UF, and that’s how SAC approved it,” Slates said. “However, SAC and the university [have] no jurisdiction over which unofficial groups co-sponsor, endorse or generally support a particular event.”
According to the 2008 SAC Funding Guidelines, the most recently published on the commission’s Web site, SAC clubs receiving funding “can co-sponsor with any other group as long as the event being put on fulfills the mission of the SAC group.”
United Feminists is committed to eliminating the impact of sexism and gender discrimination both on and off campus, as well as providing educational programming to boost awareness of women’s rights, sexual and gender discrimination, according to the group’s Web site.
The funding squabble stems from the university’s refusal to back the Plan A coalition of United Feminists and H*yas for Choice due to the advocacy group’s goals, which are said to conflict with Georgetown’s Jesuit identity in a Feb. 24 letter to the coalition from Todd Olson, vice president for student affairs.
According to the Plan A: Hoyas for Reproductive Justice blog, the group strives to change the way the university handles questions of reproductive choice. Specific goals include making contraception available to students on campus, making rape kits available at the Georgetown University Hospital and persuade the administration to support pro-choice student groups.
According to Slates, H*yas for Choice should have been able to receive university funding for the event because the access to benefits policy states that the university can only limit an event in “time, place and manner.”
“H*yas for Choice has a long history of co-sponsoring events similar to Bro-Choice with organizations that have access to benefits without issue,” Slates said.
“Our Speech and Expression policy encourages a wide range of discourse on campus, and guides our approach to controversial events,” Andy Pino, director of media relations, said. “We are also following up with student organization sponsors to discuss the need to clearly state who is sponsoring an event.”
The panel featured Robin Wood, from Choice USA, Mark Egerman, from National Abortion Federation. and Jared Watkins (COL `11), one of the founders of GU Men Creating Change. It focused on addressing men’s roles in the abortion-rights movement.
Erika Cohen-Derr, director of student programs, could not be reached for comment. “
