The Student Bar Association postponed their vote to approve annual funding allocations after law student organizations accused the body of “mismanaging” funds at Tuesday’s meeting.
SBA senators delayed voting on the SBA Budget Allocation Act — which is proposed annually by the Finance Committee and allocates money to the SBA and law student organizations — after multiple organization leaders raised concerns about funding discrepancies and a lack of transparency about how the executive spends its funds. Former SBA Sen. Delaney Gatine said nine student organizations that requested funding for the 2024-25 academic year got $0, while the executive budget nearly doubled.
The executive budget increased from about $70,000 last year to $120,000 this year, SBA Vice President of Finance Amanda Hichez announced at the meeting.
Hichez said the executive spent less of its allocated budget during the COVID-19 pandemic when student organizations held fewer in-person events, which led to a rollover fund of $173,000 for the executive during the 2023-24 academic year. Hichez said this year the executive received a rollover fund of about $5,000 because the previous administration spent almost all of its budget, meaning the body will be operating with less money overall despite the budget increase.
Hichez said this year the SBA will only be able to distribute $65,000 to law student organizations, compared to the $100,000 they allocated during the 2023-24 academic year.
Witt Hollensbe, co-president of the Equal Justice Foundation — an organization that provides stipends to public interest law students — said his organization received no funding this year. He said the organization has received funding in the past, which it needs in order to provide financial support to students who take unpaid internships.
“Without the SBA support, we won’t be able to have EJF this year,” Hollensbe said. “And we’re hoping that you’ll pull from the ad hoc funding and also from potentially any other money that may have been allocated towards other student organizations.”
Kristina Zaslavskaya, the president of the Government Contracts Student Association — which provides networking opportunities for students interested in government contracts — said the organization received $0 in funding but needs reimbursement for events organization leaders already planned for the fall. She said the organization is requesting $2,500 to cover event costs.
“As one of the largest professional student organizations on campus, it is unclear to us how GCSA was allocated $0 for this upcoming year,” Zaslavskaya said.
SGA Sen. Connor J. Toth said SBA senators and the executive should have to submit a line item budget at the end of the year that details how they spent their allocated funds. He said after years of “continually mismanaged funds,” the student body deserves to know the “state” of finances and how money is allocated.
Last academic year, the SBA failed to allocate funds to law student organizations in their first meeting after 13 student organizations appealed for more funding.
“Financially, the SBA is a disaster,” Toth said.
The SBA senate granted representatives from 19 law student organizations two minutes each to appeal to SBA senators for more funding for their organization, with an additional two minute period for the body to ask questions.
Representatives from the Middle Eastern and North African Law Student Association said since their establishment last year, their allocated budge decreased by 25 percent despite their membership increasing 196 percent.
“MENALSA students are largely first generation Americans, being the first in their families to pursue higher education,” one representative said. “We’re really underrepresented, and the SBA cutting our budget like this is really impairing our ability to give our members support they need to succeed in this type of environment.”
A representative from the International Law Society said the SBA reduced the organization’s budget from almost $10,000 last year to $2,000 this year, despite growing by 178 members during the 2023-24 academic year. The representative said the organization is requesting $8,000 this year to host lecture series and career panels.
“I really don’t envy any of you, these decisions or this job,” the representative said. “So while $10,000 can be a lot, I’m going to ask for $8,000 which is almost $2,000 less than last year’s budget. We will reinstate our ILS dues that we halted last year and attempt to fundraise the rest.”
SBA senators adjourned the meeting without allocating funds after 19 law student organizations spoke.
