In a 13-2 vote, the AUSA Senate approved $2,200 for the Tailgating Committee, and licensed but didn’t fund a book-selling group called Successors.
The Tailgating received funding for a general fund and to hold three tailgating parties for the DU-Minnesota hockey games Feb. 27 and 28 and the men’s lacrosse game Feb. 29. The tailgating parties on Feb. 27 and 28 will begin at 3:30 p.m. and 11 a.m. on Feb. 29. All of the parties will be held at the west side of the Ritchie Center next to the soccor field. Free t-shirts, food and drink will be provided.
The funding for the bill includes paying for food and drink supplies and 150 T-shirts. The T-shirts were the most expensive item in the budget at $1,200.
Though many senators supported the budgeted expenses, some senators expressed concern over the amount of money being spent.
Senator Pro-Tempore Erik Johnson said that he would prefer if the committee obtained more information about the actual number of students who would attend the tailgating parties and attempt to reduce the cost of the supplies according to the size of the crowd.
Senator James Haug questioned committee Chair Yusuf Malik about the cost of the T-shirts and suggested removing the T-shirts from the bill.
Malik said that costs had been reduced from original estimates as the committee was purchasing supplies from Costco and was going to use student volunteers and donated grills to cook the meals.
Senator Max Goldberg, a committee member, said the tailgating events would be “huge for the school” and help support the athletic events.
Senator Bryan Villano said the “amount of money we put into this will come back 200 times.”
The Senate accepted Successors as a non-funded organization with a 12-1-1 vote after a discussion of the nature of the organization.
Successors is an organization that students work for in the summer selling books door-to-door. It is part of the company SouthWestern. Because the purpose for the members of the organization is to make a profit, there was some concern about licensing the organization for some senators.
Senate Vice-president Micaela Morenz, also vice-president of Successors, explained the organization helped to build character and gave students a great deal of experience.
Haug expressed concern that it was a for-profit company, and Villano expressed concerns about the recruiting process.
Villano said that some of his constituents had been called several times after they had been asked to be removed from the calling list.
Morenz said that in her experience when a person asked to be removed from the list after one phone call, they were removed. The the organization wanted to be licensed was so they would have a place to hold their meetings.
Senator Matt Lira, chairman of the Student Organizations Committee, said Successors met all the requirements to be a non-funded licensed organization and was voluntary for students involved.
Villano, chair of the Traditions Committee, announced he was exploring the possibility of holding a “Lawn Day” for students that may be co-coordinated with Senior Send-off.
