The Student Government Association allocated $32,000 among the 67 organizations on campus at its semiannual budget meeting last Wednesday. This meeting serves as a way for student organizations to lobby for more money. 

Last spring, SGA had an average request amount of $785 per organization, and for this fall semester, that amount went up to $950. The total amount of money requested from SGA by the organizations was $64,570.

Since SGA’s money is limited, the organizations have to properly explain their goals and why they need the money. An increase in budget for one organization means a decrease for another. With the number of organizations on campus increasing from 59 to 67 this year, the average percentage of funding allocated to organizations decreased from 59% in Spring 2026 to 49% this fall.

Each organization gets an opportunity to lobby the SGA senators for additional funding. Once the lobbying time ends, the senators propose each amendment, which is then voted on to pass.

Twelve amendments were proposed; however, only seven passed.

Amendments that did not pass:

• Chem Club to take $1.5 from each organization
• Real Estate and Banking Society to take $1 from each organization
• Cinema Society to take $1 from each organization
• ACU Choir to take $1.40 from each organization
• Mukappa to take $2 from each organization

Amendments that passed:

• American Society of Mechanical Engineers to take $1 from each organization
• Feral Cat Initiative to take $1 from each organization
• Alpha Chi Honors Society to take $1 from each organization
• ACU for Life to take $1 from each organization
• American Marketing Association to take $1 from the top 20 funded organizations
• National Student Speech Language Hearing Association to take 50 cents from each organization
• Women Leading Finance to take $100 from Real Estate and Banking Society was counteroffered with WLF to take $25 from the top 4 funded organizations with the most money

The organizations that received the most amount of money are the Asian Student Association and the International Student Association, both receiving $2,503.

Before the budget meeting, representatives for student organizations must meet one-on-one with SGA’s treasurer, Paxson Wecker, and SGA’s chief financial officer, Themba Mlondiwa.

Wecker believes that those meetings are very important to understand the needs of each organization.

“We want each org to be intentional about their budget and be super specific,” Wecker said. “That’s a way for them to give us information so we can use it to give them the budget that they want.”

This meeting was Wecker’s first SGA budgeting in his new position as treasurer.

“You never know how many amendments people are going to propose, but for the amendments that passed was pretty much similar to other years.”

Wecker explained that there are lots of ways student organizations can receive money if they are dissatisfied with what they received.

“Event-based funding is the main way to get more money from [SGA], specifically, a second way is fundraising,” Wecker said. “But also we give them $100 as, like, an incentive to fundraise cause anyone can fundraise, you know?”

According to SGA’s website, fundraising is a great way to raise funds because not only does it increase the organization’s awareness, but SGA will match up to $100 of the money raised.

Having served as a senator at this meeting in previous years, Mlondiwa attended for the fifth time, this time serving as SGA’s chief financial officer. Mlondiwa says that the process for making amendments went smoothly, which is evident by the meeting being adjourned in just under an hour and 30 minutes.

“I haven’t experienced any changes myself personally, but I know in the past, this process was like a 3 or 4 hour thing,” Mlondiwa said.

Mlondiwa believes that one of the most important things an organization can do is to simply ask.

“If you have a strong cause that you think is extremely important and they think is pivotal to the club, speak out, make your voice heard,” Mlondiwa said. “The worst other senators or other clubs can say is ‘no.’”

The Budget Resolution is linked below.

S.B. 103.01 Fall 2026 Budget Resolution