Senate passes amendments for NAACP T-shirts, awards

Evin Shoap / contributing photographer Members of the NAACP go over budget issues at the SGA meeting Tuesday night.

The longest debate during the Student Government Association's front-end budgeting night surrounded amendments to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People's budget.

Senior Katherine Ferguson, Finance Committee member, said the committee cut $113 for 15 T-shirts for the NAACP's executive board, removed some office supplies money and cut the organization's Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas scholarship.

"This is a new scholarship, and we didn't see how it met any requirements for rewarding it," Ferguson said.

Senior Kristin Parker, president of JMU's NAACP chapter, said the scholarship for $150 went to an organization in Harrisonburg called the Young Achievers.

The SGA debated its first NAACP amendment, which was proposed by junior Ricardo Pineres, Ashby Hall Senator, and would return $113 to the group for the 15 T-shirts.

The T-shirts are used by the executive council to help promote their organization, Pineres said. The T-shirts also are the same reason why SGA gave the Black Student Alliance money to buy T-shirts for its executive council to be more visible during the group's events.

Senior Seong Kim, senior Class Council president, said the T-shirts help create awareness for the group everywhere they are worn, and they have a large impact even off campus.

SGA debated on which positions should be awarded the T-shirts and if it was being consistent by giving T-shirts to the BSA Executive Council and not to the NAACP. Some senators felt T-shirts only should go to the nine executive members.

Junior Ana Adinolfi, College of Arts and Letters senator, proposed an amendment to the amendment that would add $67.50 to the NAACP's budget, which would give the organization's nine executive members the standard SGA monetary allotment for T-shirt money at $7.50 each.

Junior Lauren Broussard, College of Integrated Science and Technology senator and Diversity Committee head said she disagreed with this new change in the amendment.

By looking at each group individually, she said, NAACP needs all 15 T-shirts because that is how the group is designed, with 15 people that play large public roles when helping with events.

Parker said advisers "are extremely vital" to the organization, and while there only may be nine executive members, the 15 people who make up a larger board of leaders, include the advisers and committee heads that need to be in charge at events.

The amendment that would change the original amendment from $113 to $67.50 did not pass.

The amendment to give NAACP back the $113 that originally was cut by the Finance Committee for shirts was passed.

The next amendment brought to the floor was giving money back to the NAACP Image Awards program, which recognizes students and groups on campus. NAACP originally asked for $600 to purchase 27 awards for the event, but the Finance Committee cut the amount back to $200 because it thought the group only would hand out eight awards, Gray said.

However, Parker said there were 27 awards that will be awarded, not eight as the Finance Committee originally had believed. With 27 awards, sophomore class president Wesli Spencer said NAACP should be given an extra $1,150 to that budgeted item to cover the cost of all the awards.

Junior Matt Gray, Finance Committee head, said NAACP completed the Image Awards show last year with $600 and should do the same this year.

"It's been a zero-increase year," Gray said. "The $1,150 would be coming from contingency, the fund that SGA gives non-FEB organizations money from, and "contingency affects such a large number of organizations."

Ferguson agreed NAACP should not receive the additional $1,150. "They did no budget research and they want to throw something in and take [money] from contingency," she said.

Parker said NAACP was not able to get by last year on the funds it was allotted. Instead, it made some of the awards certificates instead of trophies or plaques.

Spencer said, "We shouldn't have any of the FEB organizations just be getting by … they didn't know they could ask for the [extra] money they needed."

Senators voted down the ammendment that would make the total $1,350 for the awards.

The senators then went back to the original amendment that would give an additional $400 to NAACP, make it a total of $600 for the Image Awards.

Gray said this was fair because the Finance Committee were going by incorrect award numbers before and "[NAACP] can put on a quality program for $600 — they did it last year."

Senior Adrianne Laputka, College of Arts and Letters senator, said the actual award , whether it is a trophy or a certificate, should not matter because it is the individuals' recognitions that are important.

However, Spencer said this was not fair to the organization. "Six hundred dollars is not what they need, they need more than that," he said. "These are all FEB groups, and [all the FEB groups] deserve to be treated the same way [as each other]."

This amendment passed, which increased the money for the awards from $200 as the Finance Committee's proposed to $600.

Spencer proposed the next amendment that would add $150 for the Brown vs. Board of Education scholarship from the contingency.

Ferguson said this item was removed because there were "no guidelines or requirements could be listed … [It was not] documented on how it is going [to work] out."

Kim said this scholarship helps retain community relations and is important to the organization.

When debate ended, the Senate voted against the bill and NAACP did not get money for the scholarship.