The Student Association decided Wednesday to cut 20 clubs not meeting SA membership mandates from its roll. The breadth of de-recognized clubs runs extensively from academic clubs such as Architecture and Planning to international clubs like Irish SA and special interest clubs including the Amateur Radio Society.
SA president Christian Oliver set a very low standard for the clubs to reach. The requirements for continued recognition - and financial support - were, by any standard, simple to understand and execute. SA correctly requires the clubs to submit annually an updated list of officers. Frequent turnover is a fact of life in a university community.
A notice informing SA about a change in leadership allows it to assign responsibility for club actions to the correct individuals, whom to hold responsible for the club's actions. With an overall budget of $2.2 million, SA has an obligation to ensure its funds are adequately distributed and used in a productive, timely manner. Allocating funds to organizational dead wood is a waste of time and resources.
Oliver cited absenteeism at club council meetings as one of the flags marking a club for de-recognition. Mailboxes bulging with unretrieved mail in the SA office, where each club is allotted a box, also indicated a distinct lack of initiative on the part of the now-defunct clubs. The SA office is a touchstone for students looking to get involved at the university. If the clubs do not exert the minimal effort to at least touch base with their parent organization and check their mail, then questions should rightfully be asked about their commitment as an organization.
Even with the apparent lack of involvement demonstrated by the organizations, SA gave the MIA clubs one final chance to redeem themselves. All the unaccounted for club leaders needed to do was show up at Wednesday's meeting and explain themselves, or contact Oliver personally and plead their case. A number did and saved themselves from extinction, such as Hip-Hop SA. In a moment of comic synchronicity, a group of students approached SA Wednesday about forming an Amnesty International club - exactly as the current chapter dangled close to the edge of elimination. These students, obviously interested enough to form their own club, had no idea one already existed. This quite telling incident testifies to the lack of involvement on the part of certain others.
As a result of SA trimming the fat, an additional $3,000, reclaimed from the de-recognized organizations, is now available for dispersal. This windfall would best be put to use bolstering clubs who are active, efficient and effective. An infusion of funds would give these successful clubs a chance to expand. While SA does not ask much, the clubs that do meet their requirements should be rewarded for running their organizations properly.
For whatever reason, these 20 clubs did not or could not meet very simple demands. SA was correct in eliminating these clubs who could not muster themselves to meet standards even the most lax professor would require: merely showing up.
