The Student Finance Board met on Wednesday, Feb. 6 to discuss the funding of the College Union Board’s 25th Annual Spring Latenighter: Into the Jungle, as well as several other requests.
SFB motioned to fully fund CUB for $30,031 by a unanimous vote in favor of the latenighter, which will include a jungle obstacle course, an exotic bird display, reptile shows, a green screen photo booth and several other free activities for students to enjoy.
“The goal is to get people to feel like they’ve actually been transported into the jungle,” the presenters for CUB explained.
Members of SFB were excited about the event and appreciated its creativity.
“I think that they really have some quality things,” said sophomore representative Sara Stammer. “I think it’s gonna be a really good latenighter.”
The event is expected to take place in the Brower Student Center on March 7 from 8 p.m. to midnight.
In addition, Student Government was funded with $2,600 for the Class of 2014 Hoboken Bus Trip on March 2. This trip will serve as a unifying event for the class filled with an itinerary of suggested places to visit and restaurants to eat at.
During the discussion, members of SFB agreed that the event would be successful and sell out easily. The event will allow students the opportunity to take a trip to Hoboken for free (a $5 deposit will be returned at the beginning of the day) without having to worry about parking.
Additionally, SFB motioned to fund the Eurasia/Middle East Society for $3,775 to be used toward their annual Nowruz celebration, with the stipulation that the venue be changed.
The Eurasia/Middle East Society wanted to host the event in two different locations — the Library Auditorium for a concert because of its quiet and intimate atmosphere and then the Brower Student Center to serve cultural food.
“I think you lose the event if you’re splitting it up,” said senior Lindsay Klein, SFB’s executive director.
Members of SFB also expressed the concern that the event would suffer from being split up into two different venues, as they remembered the success of the event last year, when it was held in one venue. The event will be held on March 18.
Following, PRISM presented two requests that were both fully funded by SFB.
The first request was funded for $1,500 to bring 19-year-old Ryan Cassata to the College for a lecture and a musical performance about the transgender community.
“Transgender issues are not widely known,” said freshman Andrew Edelblum, presenting for PRISM. “This will be an educational experience about the trans-community for the entire TCNJ community at large.”
During discussion, members of SFB were pleased with the event, but were concerned about the small size of the Library Auditorium and its ability to successfully hold the event.
SFB motioned to fully fund the event with the stipulation that the event be booked at the Don Evans Black Box Theater in Kendall Hall on April 4.
“I really like that he’s younger and I’m all for it,” said Joseph Lacerda, a senior representative for SFB.
Finally, SFB funded PRISM for $777.56 to be used for their annual Queer Wedding that will be held in the ABE Drawing Room on Feb. 28. This event will showcase a mock wedding of four “queer” couples, each with different sexualities and religious backgrounds, in order to allow students to witness marriages involving same-sex and transgender couples, exposing them to an important facet of “queer” relationships.
“I think the Queer Wedding will be very eye-opening for people,” said junior representative Samantha Hoffer.
SFB also tabled a request by Chabad to host their “Magical Purim” event in celebration of the holiday, in order to allow them to clarify their quotes and better organize their estimated prices.
*Even though SFB agrees to finance certain events, there is no guarantee that these events will take place. The approval only makes the funds available.
