Hunter College Students Speak Out Against Budget Cuts
Students at Hunter College expressed concern last week over a potential referendum proposing budget cuts to the college’s student-run clubs and media publications.
“We literally just found out about this this past weekend,” said Raven Hicks, 22, a senior and staff member of Hunter’s literary and arts magazine, The Olivetree Review.
The referendum, initiated by student government president Matthew LoCastro, 21, proposes to reallocate student activity fees. LoCastro plans to implement new initiatives including the Civics Programming Fund at Roosevelt, Healthcare Care Product Fund and the Undergraduate Tutoring Service Fund while proposing up to a 65% reduction to Hunter’s media publications and student club budget.
“We wanted to see how we can fundamentally make a difference in the lives of Hunter students,” said LoCastro.
LoCastro began collecting signatures from students to support holding the referendum which, if approved, will be voted on during the week of student elections held May 1, 2017 through May 5, 2017. Students were asked to sign a petition that, “advocated free menstrual products and tutoring services,” said Hicks.
The petition promoted a referendum that would guarantee free peer-to-peer tutoring and free feminine hygiene products, but omitted information regarding budget cuts for student-run organizations.
Some students questioned the transparency with which the referendum was presented. “We found it a little bit odd,” said senior and vice president of WHCS Hunter College’s radio station, Ulrich Kogda, 22. “‘Oh, sign this, we’ll give you free tampons and tuition. Why would you start getting signatures without informing students exactly what you are presenting to them?”
“‘Oh, sign this, we’ll give you free tampons and tuition. Why would you start getting signatures without informing students exactly what you are presenting to them?”
On Wednesday, LoCastro and nearly 40 students gathered for a town hall meeting to discuss concerns surrounding the reallocation of funds proposed in the referendum.
LoCastro explained the budgetary concerns Hunter is facing, “Each full-time student pays $83 each semester to sponsor these activities and these earmarks,” said LoCastro. “We have accumulated a surplus of a million dollars – a surplus is unused funds – these funds do not benefit the students,they go unspent.” Unused student activity funds in the amount of million dollars could possibly New York City to audit Hunter, therefore subjecting the entire school to budget cuts, said LoCastro.
Members of the college’s media outlets responded to the surplus claims with counter-complaints on the bureaucracy involved in the submission and approval of expenditures. They referenced the inability to work cohesively with the College Association, the committee responsible for the supervision and review of the college’s SAF supported budgets. “You’re doing paperwork to fill out paperwork to make paperwork,” said Jackie, a member of Hunter’s The Green Initiative Fund.
Faith Ahmed, 21, senior and editor-in-chief of Cult Magazine asked LoCastro for clarity on the percentages of the budget cuts as it relates to the Media Board, the entity that allocates funds to Cult Magazine. “It’s not that I disagree, I’m just confused,” said Ahmed, as she pushed LoCastro to distinguish whether the percentage of the budget cuts were being extracted from the total amount allocated to the publications or their suggested surplus.
“I don’t think LoCastro understands the cost that goes into a publication,” said Kogda. “If you’re cutting that much money, that means some publications are going to die.”
In an interview on Thursday, LoCastro said WHCS and the college’s Film & Media department will be hosting a live-streamed panel discussion. Students can tune-in to wchsradio.org next Wednesday, April 5 between 5p.m. and 7p.m. to hear more discussion on the referendum before its April 7 deadline.
