USG explains activity funding process

In the past two weeks, the USG has been criticized for its decision to allocate $1,500 for an event sponsored by the student group Let’s Talk Sex that will include the screening of pornographic clips.

Shawn Kothari ’11, Projects Board co-chair, said the board does not consider the potentially controversial nature of an event as the most important part of a funding decision.

“We evaluate financial viability first and foremost,” he said. “The controversy is not really central to the conversation; it’s more about the execution and not the content.”

Dunne said the Projects Board and the Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students were primarily interested in maintaining students’ rights to free speech.

“It’s appropriate for student learning to have free exchange of ideas even when they’re controversial,” he said. “It’s important for students to have the opportunity to put an idea out there to be recognized as a group and get funding.”

The Projects Board does face some difficulty when visiting speakers request honoraria.

“We try to focus our financial support on holding good events,” Dunne said. “These people try to tap into the college market, and schools are paying lots of money to have them come and speak. We couldn’t sustain this model even if we wanted to.”

Kothari said the Projects Board handles roughly $114,000 a year in multiple accounts.

The Student Activities Fee that is included in every student’s tuition provides the 14-member Projects Board — the largest on-campus fund for student activities — with $70,000 annually.

Other funding sources include the Woodrow Wilson School Fund and the USG Publications Fund, which each supply the Projects Board with $10,000 annually, and the Venture Fund, which donates $24,000 annually to fund cultural events. ODUS also provides discretionary funding for certain events.

The Projects Board, along with a staff member from ODUS, meets weekly to hear student organizations present budget proposals for events, Kothari explained. The board then deliberates over the organization’s budget and any concerns it has before deciding how much to contribute to the event.

Dunne explained that there is a close relationship between the Projects Board and ODUS when they distribute funds to organizations.

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“In the 1990s, students would go to various departments, residential colleges and the Projects Board looking for funding for events,” he said. “This was very inefficient, so we worked to consolidate funding by bringing it all under the umbrella of the Projects Board. Now, we’ve pulled together funding from multiple sources to the same place.”

Dunne said that ODUS and the Projects Board work closely together to support safety measures and adhere to University policies.

“We move on parallel tracks,” he said. “We overlap with offices in communication and work together to adhere to University policies.”

Those who attended the meeting said they found the discussion helpful and applicable to their student organizations.

“I thought it helped clarify Projects Board and ODUS’s policies,” said Lauren Kustner ’11, former head of Princeton Pro-Life. “It was originally confusing as to what exactly their policies were, but it was good to get the official stance.”