The Interfraternity Council will no longer dole out money to individual fraternities on campus, after the IFC Presidents’ Council voted Tuesday to direct all co-sponsorship requests through the Student Association.
The SA Finance Committee considered the IFC an umbrella organization, meaning that it distributed money to related organizations below it. Last year, the IFC was allocated $30,000 in the initial allocations process – when the SA hands out operational costs to student organizations – and that money was distributed to the 16 IFC fraternities throughout the year for philanthropy and other events the organizations held.
By removing its umbrella organization status, each individual fraternity will now go directly to the SA for funding for its events.
The switch from an umbrella organization to a singular organization will result in consequences for IFC fraternities.
Because the switch was made only two weeks before the initial allocations process only the IFC will be allocated funds, and not the individual fraternities, which could potentially lead to issues later on in the year.
“We’re not a financial umbrella organization but we still maintain some regulations and authority over the 16 fraternities,” IFC president Bill Hulse said, calling his organization’s funding “one very small part” of the IFC.
“We can be the voice of the fraternities on campus,” Hulse said, adding that the IFC will continue to host Greek-letter life events, including Greek Week.
Hulse said he supports the council’s decision, which he said was “pretty widely agreed upon” by the presidents.
SA Finance Committee chair Chris Clark, U-At large, said the IFC still has the same umbrella distinction in the SA because the IFC is the representative body for fraternities to the Student Activities Center and to the University.
The IFC will still receive initial allocations funding next month for its operational costs, Clark said.
Clark added that fraternity presidents approached him and SA President Jason Lifton to say that they didn’t want to go through the IFC to get their funding anymore.
“They came to us asking if we could do this,” Clark said.
The Panhellenic Association is still the umbrella organization for sororities on campus.
