Student Bar Association President Cherissa Lindsay shared updates on the body’s efforts to secure funding through the Dean of Students Office, the Student Government Association and ticket sales at an online meeting Tuesday night.
SBA Sen. Omer Turkomer, the chair of the SBA Finance Committee, said the body received additional funding this year from the SGA’s allocations, but the Dean of Students Office has not yet added the money to the SBA’s budget. He said the SBA has had a “disagreement” with officials from the Dean of Students Office about whether or not that money would be added but did not specify the nature of the dispute.
“When we spoke with the Dean of Students Office, we were told that our budget wouldn’t be increasing, even though we’re getting additional money,” Turkomer said. “We’re speaking with University admin, not necessarily Law School University admin, to try and get some more clarification on what exactly is going on.”
Turkomer said the SGA allocates “a portion” of funding to the SBA budget each year. He said the SGA Finance Committee told him the SBA was supposed to receive “a little bit more” funding from the body than they were initially allocated at the start of the fiscal year on June 31. Turkomer said he plans to provide updates to the body on SBA finances “as they come,” and he will continue to meet with officials during the spring semester.
Lindsay said the body raised an additional $20,000 for the SBA’s Barrister’s Ball — an end of year formal gala event for law students — from ticket sales for the school-wide Halloween celebration in October, which brings the event’s budget to $75,000. She said the event will likely take place on April 5 but may change once the planning committee solidifies the venue.
The SBA held last year’s Barrister’s Ball at the International Spy Museum in D.C. on March 1. Former SBA President Shallum Atkinson said tickets for last year’s ball sold out among students in “record time.”
Lindsay said she met with GW Law Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew at the end of the fall semester to work on “redefining” the SBA’s relationship with the Dean of Students Office after heightened tensions last semester following Dean Jason Belk’s alleged lack of response to the removal of pro-Palestinian posters and increased requirements for ad-hoc funding approvals. Belk advised the SBA not to take action or release a statement in response to reports of someone tearing down pro-Palestinian posters, but SBA Executive Vice President Nigel Walton released a statement condemning the removal of the posters on behalf of the SBA executive branch.
Lindsay also said the SBA will hold the annual election on Feb. 23 to elect the incoming president and executive vice president for the term starting in April. She said the election for the two positions will be open to all law students.
The next SBA meeting will be held Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 8:50 p.m. in the LLC.