On her first day back on campus this semester, Margarita Villa, former vice president of finance for student government and head of the allocations board, received a request for thousands of dollars for a man hired to make a new website for the student's governing body.
Rather than simply cutting the check as many who had previously occupied her role had done, Villa denied the request and pointed student government president Charles Pierre to the allocations process. The allocations board denied the request twice before Pierre gave up on his goal.
"From there I think I became like, ‘I think I really need to look out for what they're telling me to just cut checks for because that's going to be on me,'" Villa said.
Villa denied another request for a block fund that student government could use however it wanted and became skeptical of her ability to make decisions as head of the allocations board while she was still a member of the executive board of student government.
"That really kind of frustrated me," Villa said. "Every other organization that received funding had to go through this really intense process where you don't get all the money you need and in the past student government has always just been funded like a block grant of money for them to do whatever they want to do that semester."
For years, the vice president of finance had served as treasurer for the student government and as head of the allocations board. Because of this dual position, the individual requesting funding for the executive board was also the one distributing the funding.
"I think it was really tough because you saw money being spent that wasn't OK'd, and then you kind of have to choose a side," Villa said. "Am I going to be the person on the side that's going, ‘You shouldn't spend this money because this isn't what the allocations board says,' or am I going to be part of the exec board that's going to OK this expense and just kind of go with it even though you're violating the allocations board ruling?"
Further instances of requests for allocations late or without proper allocations board procedures frustrated Villa further. Specifically in ordering the Monon Bell T-shirts, the executives waited until three nights before the game generating a $600 late fee. Villa said the additional fee was not allocated for and the allocations for shirts were hasty.
"That prompted an additional $600 fee and if you think about it that's a lot. That's like two to three students' activity fees," Villa said.
Ultimately Villa decided to split the position and to take up the role of head of the allocations board exclusively. Her departure and separation of positions left the position of treasurer for another individual in the student government executive group.
Following application revisions and voting among senators, senior Megan Napoli was elected to the position of student government treasurer.
Villa said the split stemmed majorly from her frustration with the corrupt system and her desire to act in a way that would create change. Pierre said the group decided based on the student government constitution.
"The way it stood before, treasurers and presidents of organizations couldn't serve on the allocations board because it was said that they would have a conflict of interest, whether this is true or not," Pierre said. "And so we wanted to make sure that we were following this rule and that Margarita wasn't put in a hard situation, which is she is our treasurer, and she did an amazing job as our treasurer, but she's also the head of our allocations board."
Villa expressed confusion at the double standard the student government utilized in requesting block funding without adhering to the allocations process.
"I just don't understand why, as a governing body, they didn't sort of feel the need to set the example for all the organizations in going through the process as any other organization goes through," Villa said.
Student government Vice President of Student Affairs Arezoo Nazari said the change from bypassing the allocations process to being obligated to go through it made student government a better example for other student groups.
"It had a lot of positive to it," Nazari said. "We were placed under the same restrictions and the same expectations as other organizations so it didn't seem like we had any special privilege. This way we're living by the same procedures we tell others to use."
Pierre agreed that the change has created a positive impact for student government.
"It's totally fine," Pierre said. "It's a little bit more work, but I think that with anything great it just means you have to work harder for it. I think that Margarita has done an amazing job of making sure that organizations don't abuse power and I think that in the past, not that any president has abused power, not in the time that I've been here anyway, but it leaves the door open for someone to do that."
He also said that if the student body wants student government to go through the same process in order to gain funding, he would be willing to comply.
"If students want us to be treated like every other student organization, which is what we are, which is how we act already, then we have no problem with applying for funds and doing all that," Pierre said.
Of the adjustment to the allocations process, Nazari said that the switch required little adjustment.
"We've always had to go through allocations process, just through the VP of finance. Now we have to go through a different individual, the head of the allocations board, and do some extra work so it takes a little longer, but it's not all that different," Nazari said.
Villa said that her position swap has left her better able to monitor Student Government funding. She still worries that executives will continue attempts to bypass the process.
"They're still sort of ignoring a lot of it, but now with the split positions I see them as less able to sort of dip in and get the money for themselves," Villa said.
Pierre confirmed some of Villa's fears when he said that Student Government does in fact have a fund from which to draw payments of which she was not made aware.
"Whether Margarita knew or not we were allocated funds last semester, which was a block fund," Pierre said. "So we went through our event by event, but we had our money allocated to us already so I essentially I was playing by the rules this semester even though I didn't have to."
Though the adjustment has created extra work for student government executives, Pierre said it has not been a significant burden.
"It's not about what I'd prefer," Pierre said. "It's about the cards I've been dealt with and I'm playing them happily. I'm the president of the student body. It's a job that I've wanted to have for some time now and I have it now and we've gotten everything that we've wanted. Everything that we've requested we've received."
Villa stressed that though she decided to take a position adjacent to the board following her stepping down from the role of vice president of finance she has no hard feelings toward student government.
"I think student government is a really good thing, that it has a lot of potential to be a really good thing," Villa said. "But I wish it was people that really wanted it to represent the student body and really offer opportunities to the student body and not just something that has to be there and that has to run and just go through the processes of things. I think there's a lot of room for improvement."
President Brian Casey acknowledged the changes ensuing between the allocations board and student government, but said that the allocations process has provided too great of a positive impact to change it based on this one incident.
"This is just an inevitable, cyclical flare-up, is what it feels like," Casey said. "If this heat continues, we'll have to take a look at it."