Thursday, October 06, 2005
On this day:

UA isn't "inclusive"?

Judging from the amount of money it hands out to "diverse" student organizations each year, I'd say that the University of Alabama is so inclusive it hurts.
The SGA Financial Affairs Committee held its first meeting of the fiscal year Monday, allocating a total of $18,160.03 to registered student organizations pending approval from the SGA Senate.

Just over 30% of that money will go to groups who classify themselves by race, sex, religion, or nationality. Here's the list:

Student Bar Association - $9,000
Performance Poetry Reading Series - $2,000
NAACP - $1,444*
Society of Women Engineers - $1,341.69*
Muslim Student Association - $1,248*
Pre-Law Student Association - $1,174
International Student Association - $915*
African-American Graduate Student Association - $480*
Chinese Student Association - $141.34*

* groups which the UA administration label diverse, multicultural, inclusive, and just plain wonderful

This money doesn't grow on trees, by the way. It is funded by mandatory student activity fees. To my knowledge, there is no "opt-out" provision allowing students to withhold money from those organizations whose mission or activities they may find objectionable. Thus, students (or their parents) are forced to provide financial support to whatever groups the SGA and the administration decide to fund.

All of which makes me wonder - what ever happened to doughnut sales and car washes?