Author: Martha Carol
On March 5 the Black Student Alliance (BSA) filed a petition through Honor Board against the Associated Students of Occidental College (ASOC) Senate after receiving $800 fewer than expected from the Senate for funding for Black History Month. In addition, BSA did not receive the funding it had anticipated from Dean of Students Barbara Avery.
Because BSA received $3,200 instead of the $4,000 it requested from the Senate, the club was unable to enact its plan to bring an art exhibit by artist Milton Bowens to campus. Filed by BSA President Lindsey Fuller (senior), the petition is in reaction to what they perceive as an unfair funding decision.
Honor Board Chair Shannon Hurley (senior) declined to comment on the petition or pending Honor Board case citing the Honor Board’s confidentiality policy.
The specific objections that the BSA and Fuller have with the Senate’s allocation of money include unequaltreatment of the BSA as compared to organizations such as Vagina Monologues and Dance Production and disorganization within the Senate’s funding allocation system.
During the Feb. 14 meeting in which the ASOC Senate allocated the BSA $3,200 for Black History Month, the Senate also allocated $3,400 to Vagina Monologues, a week long event, which had already received $221.43 on Oct. 13. The Senate also allocated $2,000 on Feb. 14 to Dance Production, a two night program, which had already received $3,000 on Nov. 17 from the Senate.
“The reason I am bringing [the case] to Honor Board is that Vagina Monologues, which we actually support . . . is a week long program which received more money than us. Dance Production is a two night program and received more money than us,” said Fuller. “And the message that it sends to the community is that cultural events and programming are less valuable. So all of these events on campus simultaneously are really indicating that . . . our culture isn’t as valuable. I think that the allocation process is extremely biased.”
ASOC President Andrew DeBlock (senior) and the other ASOC senators have expressed their dismay with the funding allocation system throughout the 2009-2010 school year. “What went wrong [when we funded Black History Month]? . . . I think its the process. Senate had a conversation. They decided they wanted to fund a certain amount based on that conversation. They were happy with that choice at the time and I don’tthink that was necessarily a fair amount of funding,” said DeBlock.
The progress of the case thus far is limited to the submission of the BSA petition and initial interactions between the BSA and Honor Board.
Honor Board cases are generally scheduled one to two weeks after a petition is filed. Information concerning cases which deal specifically with the ASOC Senate or General Assembly are released in the Honor Board’s finalreport after the case.
“Hurley and [Nick] Lee [(senior), the former Honor Board Chair] both thought it was a legitimate cause . . . [they were] excited that a student is trying to hold the school accountable,”Fuller said.
The ASOC officers expressed approval of the BSA’s Honor Board case against them. “I think they have merit [in bringing the case.] I agree with them. I am glad they came in. It reinforces the fact that we need to get this [constitution revision] done,” DeBlock said.
Fuller said the major source of frustration for the BSA concerning the ASOC Senate’s decision was the cancellation of the art exhibit. As a centerpiece to its observance of Black History Month, she said that the BSA organized for a 14-piece art exhibit worth $56,000 by prominent African American artist Milton Bowens.
The BSA was able to arrange for the exhibit to be shipped to Occidental for only $3,000 shipping, said Fuller. The exhibit was scheduled to show in Weingart from Feb. 8-12 with Bowens coming to speak on Feb. 11.
“We really burned a lot of bridges because we had had personal favors from city hall from all of these huge people in Sacramento. It really ruined [the Bowens exhibit which] was [planned to be] one of the focal points of the month,” Fuller said.
The BSA began organizing its plans for Black History Month during first semester of the 2009-2010 school year, Fuller said, and had approached both the ASOC Senate and the president’s office for funding for the Bowens exhibit and Black History Month as a whole.
The BSA initially submitted a funding request to the ASOC Senate during the fall semester. However, the Senate did not accept funding requests for events in future semesters.
The BSA re-submitted its funding request at the beginning of the spring semester but due to an overload of funding requests, the Senate was unable to review the request until Feb. 14.
Additionally, President Veitch met with the BSA and told them that he thought that the art exhibit was a good idea, said Executive Assistant to the President Rebecca Stolz.
“[President Veitch] said [that his office supported] the arts and to go ahead with the program and that the president’s office would help us with funding. When it came down to the time to receive it we couldn’t get a hold of him [until a week before the exhibit was to be shipped],” Fuller said.
However, the President’s Office does not fund student organizations and the BSA was sent to the Dean of Students office. Barbara Avery gave the group $2,500 for Black History Month.
“I have a finite amount of money and I try to fund as many organizations as I can . . . I usually don’t give that much money away actually. And I probably gave them all I had. I’m sorry that they were short. Maybe if I had known I would have . . . I don’t know, I don’t have any more money,” said Avery.
The unanticipated amount of funding also meant that the club could not afford decorations and a DJ for the One Love dance and decorations for Soul Sessions, Fuller said.
Additionally, she said that the $800 difference between the BSA’s funding request to the ASOC Senate and the amount actually allocated, as well as the unexpectedly low amount from Veitch’s office impacted the club’s ability to fundraise. Fuller estimates that they raised $500 below what they believe they could have raised to donate for earthquake relief in Haiti.
In light of the cancellation of the exhibit as well as the comparative funding of other events, Fuller and BSA Treasurer Asia Canady (sophomore) held a meeting with DeBlock and ASOC Treasurer Aliza Goldsmith (sophomore) to convey their complaints. DeBlock and Goldsmith said they were appreciative of the BSA’s criticism concerning the Senate’s funding allocation practices.
However, the BSA was concerned that the Senate’s entire funding allocation system was flawed, Fuller said.
“[DeBlock and Goldsmith cited] the magnitude of a full month of programming [as the reason for the funding decision] – which is completely unsatisfactory to me. If you can understand the magnitude of week long programming or two night programming . . . imagine how much a month costs,” Fuller said. “The allocation process – there is somethingmissing and I need Honor Board tofigure that out.”
After Canady’s and Fuller’s meeting with DeBlock and Goldsmith, the BSA arranged to speak during the Mar. 3 Senate meeting. During the meeting, Fuller expressed her dissatisfaction with the ASOC Senate and their funding allocation practices.
“The constitution says that no student shall take unfair advantage of another. It also says that equal opportunity will be afforded regardless of race, ethnicity, etc. I’m not saying that racism was involved. Please no one leave this room and think that is what I am saying. But I am saying that a message was sent to my community that cultural programming is less valuable than entertaining [the student body],” said Fuller.
Fuller explained that her personal motivation to bring the Honor Board case against the Senate was spurred by frustrations within the school beyond the Senate.
“It’s been a really frustrating and difficult time. I have to make sure in the future margin
alized populations do not continue to be silenced on this campus. We are losing our numbers. Every ethnic group – Latinos, blacks, and Native Americans – are decreasing every year. If biased practices are going to impact funding its going to be really rough to do anything relevant to our culture,” said Fuller.
According to the U.S. News & World Reports Survey of Campus Ethnic Diversity within its Best Schools study, Occidental College was ranked third among nationally ranked liberal arts colleges in 2009 and eighth in 2010.
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