UB Step Troupe

UB Step Troupe is in deep trouble. On Monday, the Student Association Senate fined the SISH club $1,000 and 100 hours of community service for misappropriation of funds. At the heart of the matter is a dispute between club president Lilith Emdin and treasurer Melissa Sears over a vanished amount of money, possibly anywhere between $250 and $500. The missing greenbacks disappeared from the club's petty cash fund, one not allowed under SA rules. After Emdin discovered approximately $500 was missing last semester, she notified authorities in the town of Amherst, where the case against Sears is pending in town court. Sears admitted using the missing amount, which she claims is around $250, for personal use. The actual amount missing is unknown because, according to SA Treasurer Naazli Ahmed, Sears has changed her story multiple times and the club's record keeping was poor.

The UB Step Troupe's recent actions are a lesson in how not to manage a club's finances. SUNY Board of Trustee rules prohibit any club funds from existing outside an SA bank account. These rules strictly controlling funds exist for a good reason. As the troupe demonstrates, a pile of money simply sitting around attracts trouble like honey attracts flies. The missing petty cash was obtained through donations from club members. No one has a problem with club members chipping in personal funds to improve their collective activities, but that money needs to go into accounts monitored by third parties to protect against these kinds of shenanigans. Putting the funds in the SA "lock box" to guard against theft is a wise policy all clubs should follow, even if it were not a regulation.

Ahmed believes the money was improperly stashed so the club could have quick, unfettered access to capital through bypassing the SA appropriation process. Regardless of how slow a group may perceive the process to be, that valuable regulation exists to stymie potential abuse and properly channel club activities. Strict third-party oversight is warranted given the apparent tight-lipped nature of the club, where the president was reluctant to inform SA about the theft and other club members apparently knew of "money changing hands."

In keeping with the theme of adherence to regulations, Emdin notifying Amherst authorities of Sears' misuse of funds before SA was incorrect. Yes, the missing amount is a great deal of money to simply disappear - and heavy penalties need to be doled out as punishment. But, proper procedure necessitates informing SA before involving outside authorities. By going to Amherst authorities first, Emdin disrupted the chain of responsibility, perhaps to hide her mistakes in handling the situation. One of the reasons SA punished them to such an extent is because many members knew of the funny business, and did not notify SA. If Sears never notified SA of her arrest, the student government, theoretically, would still not know about it. Then UB Step Troupe would not be punished.

In addition to the SA penalties, the guilty parties should be turned over to Student Wide Judiciary for appropriate action. SA took the appropriate steps to deal with this situation. Hopefully, other clubs will learn from the Step Troupe and not act so foolish with their finances in the future.