SGA debated how much money to allocate for students attending the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values conference, said it would not yet fund the Little Free Library until it received approval from the physical plant, and allocated $2,737.50 to the UCA dog organization Living Unleashed on Nov. 13.

During the last meeting on Nov. 6, Associate Director of Student Life Lucee Lugo asked for $7,270 to cover the student registration and subscriber fee for the Association of Fraternal Leadership & Values Central conference.

She said this amount would pay for 21 students from UCA’s Interfraternity Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and United Greek Council to register for the conference in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Finance Committee moved that SGA allocate $2,205 to send seven people to the conference instead of the proposed 21.

Senator Ryan Webb said, “How exactly is the entire student body of UCA going to be benefiting from sending these folks to this conference?”

Phoenix Vu, vice president of finance, said, “The idea is that they’ll go to this conference, get a lot of information on leadership and whatnot and then spread that throughout their organizations.”

Several members opposed giving only enough money to send seven because nine people attended the conference last year.

Senator Makenna Goss said, “I do think while we do need to be responsible with how much money we give out as a student government, to make sure it is spread across campus,” she said. “Funding fewer students than we have in past years does not send the correct message.”

Senator Jasmine Parker said, “Being that there are Greek members in here, I just think it’s unfair that we’re only giving them money for registration when they’re asking for help with registration and other things amongst that.”

Senator Lily Moritz said, “This is several organizations across campus going to a conference. They’re bringing their leadership attitude and skills they get from this conference and spreading it on to others.”

Other members said the price and impact it has on students outside of Greek life should be considered.

Vice President of Operations Brad Lewis said, “Each of these organizations also have their own reserves account and funds that they pull from, so they can have skin in the game,” he said. “It’s not our responsibility to fully fund them on everything that they asked.”

Vu said, “We also have to remember, every single person in this room, every single person walking on campus, spends $15.50 on the student activity fee. So if we spent, let’s say, $2,500 to send to people to go to a conference, it’s like I just took 15 bucks from Brad’s wallet and gave it to an organization to send someone on a plane to go somewhere else.”

Senator Hannah Grace Fritz said, “I just want to encourage y’all to remember, yes, you are representing a certain population of the student body, but please keep in mind that when students do come in to present, you want to vote, and you want to take into consideration the entire student body.”

SGA voted to amend the motion from $2,205 to $2,835 to cover the costs for nine people to attend the AFLV conference.

Vu said Kaithlyn Nguyen, a senior majoring in biology, must receive approval from the physical plant before SGA can fund her Little Free Library.

During the last meeting, Nguyen requested $263.03 to help finish her Little Free Library project, a nonprofit organization with a mission to expand book access through small, communal libraries.

Living Unleashed also requested $10,570, and SGA allocated $2,737.50.

Living Unleashed raises puppies to become assistance dogs for people with disabilities through Canine Companions and they requested funding for veterinary bills, such as neutering and spaying surgeries and heartworm treatment.

Each dog costs about $1,825 to raise for the spring semester, and the organization currently has three dogs. Four more will join in the spring.

“The reason we didn’t consider the four dogs they talked about next semester is that it’s still completely possible for those two volunteers to back out for the next semester,” Senator Matt Moix said.

SGA received requests for funding totaling $18,103.03 and allocated $5,572.5 total between the AFVL conference and Living Unleashed.