How is withholding of CSG funding affecting campus orgs?

In the March 2024 Central Student Government elections, University of Michigan students elected 23 representatives of the SHUT IT DOWN party, whose platform promised to halt all CSG activity until the U-M administration divests from companies profiting off the Israeli military campaign in Gaza. Almost four weeks into the fall 2024 semester, a budget has yet to be passed.

The Michigan Daily sat down with CSG members and leaders of student organizations to discuss how they are managing the pause in funding.

On Sept. 3, the CSG assembly passed the Fall 2024 CSG Budget Act, allocating CSG funding in varying amounts to the Student Organization Committee account, the Airbus account, the Election Operations account and other funds. CSG President Alifa Chowdhury vetoed this proposal on Sept. 10. In June, Chowdhury vetoed the CSG Spring Summer 2024 budget as well. 

In anticipation of a possible fall budget veto, several CSG leaders — including CSG Speaker Mario Thaqi and Hayden Jackson, deputy director of the Student Organization Committee — addressed a letter to Martino Harmon, vice president of student life, and Dean of Students Laura Jones on Aug. 14. They requested that the University provide a temporary alternative funding source for student organizations and the Airbus transportation program, both of which have traditionally been funded by CSG.

On Aug. 19, Harmon and Jones responded, agreeing to establish a temporary funding source. According to their response, the funding will not exceed the amount budgeted by CSG last year for student organization funding, and the University must be reimbursed once a CSG budget passes. This alternative funding source went live Sept. 5.

In an interview with The Daily, Jackson characterized his interactions with the administration as positive, emphasizing their shared goals despite his concerns about collaborating so closely with administration. 

“It’s not my ideal scenario,” Jackson said. “I believe — and I continue to believe — that it is a student government’s job to hold the administration accountable. There are certain things that could result in a conflict of interest with those roles, but at the end of the day, we have to do what we have to do to make sure the students are getting the programs and services that they need.”

In an interview with The Daily, LSA junior Fiona Dunlop, co-president of the U-M undergraduate chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said she believes the funding provided by the University is evidence that withholding student organization funding will ultimately be effective in grasping the University’s attention regarding divestment. 

“Any time you get the University on the back pedal, it affects them,” Dunlop said. “The very fact that the University feels it’s necessary to make this credit account of funding tells us they don’t like what’s going on or that things are being shaken up.”

In an interview with The Daily, Chowdhury said she believes the alternative funding disregards the wishes of the student body. 

“The veto was an act of protest, and the University is trying to cover that up by providing the student organizations with funding,” Chowdhury said. “This university is participating in a genocide in Gaza, and they consistently invest in weapons manufacturing companies to make billions of dollars. We don’t want students to think that that’s normal.” 

Chowdhury encouraged student organizations to boycott the funding source, sacrificing their short-term monetary needs for the viability of the protest. 

“We urge students not to take this funding and instead continue the efforts to pressure this university into divestment,” Chowdhury said. “I think acts of protest require personal sacrifices of some sort, and to be willing to pause the activities of a student organization for a short term in pursuit of divestment and protest is worthwhile.”

While Chowdhury encourages personal sacrifice of students to pressure the University to divest, other students, such as LSA senior Ryan Grover, Michigan men’s rugby president, say they believe that student organizations are too important to the U-M community. Grover told The Daily he thinks student organizations are crucial to supporting the well-being of students.

“These clubs are a great way to find a community regardless of your socioeconomic status, regardless of your background,” Grover said. “You can really find a home at the University with these clubs. … I think CSG, by withholding this funding, is blocking a lot of access and creating a strong barrier to entry.”

Grover said he believes CSG should honor its responsibility to keep these clubs accessible and affordable.

“I really want to urge CSG and the University to make sure these students can have the best experience at the University, can make the most of these four years, become better people and become the leaders that we all want to be,” Grover said.

In an interview with The Daily, Law student Tyler Watt, CSG Student General Counsel, also said he believes CSG’s decision to withhold funding will disproportionately impact lower-income students. Watt said he believes reducing CSG funding for the Maize and Blue Cupboard would make fresh produce less accessible and cause student organizations to increase their dues, creating a barrier to entry.

“I come from a low socioeconomic background myself, and I’ve relied on CSG resources like the Maize and Blue Cupboard,” Watt said. “I think CSG should not sacrifice the well-being of one group just to make a political statement. … This is a notoriously polarized, wealthy university where, if we don’t have resources for (the) lowest socioeconomic students, they really can feel left out.”

Each year, the University’s Board of Regents vote to approve monetary allocation to CSG as part of their yearly budget. Watt voiced concerns about the potential consequences of the SHUT IT DOWN administration, including the possibility of the University taking away CSG’s duties and funding. 

“Really we subject ourselves to the administration’s mercy,” Watt said. “The longer the CSG shutdown goes, the more likely it is that the administration just gives up on CSG and takes up the projects on its own.”

On the day of the Fall 2024 Budget Act veto, Chowdhury, Atkinson and others proposed Assembly Resolution 14-032, which outlined alternative budgetary allocations. Under this proposal, the majority of the budget would go towards a scholarship fund for students from Gaza. It is currently unclear whether offering a scholarship based on nationality would violate University regulations. Financial aid programs funded by the University do not take race, ethnicity, nationality or gender into consideration, but Proposal 2 allows for certain exceptions.

The remaining funds would be directed towards the CSG general reserve, the payroll fund, the Maize and Blue Cupboard and other outlets. 

This week, a group of CSG members and student organization leaders created a petition containing the same allocations as the vetoed fall budget. According to the CSG Constitution, valid petitions signed by 2% of the student body must either be passed by the assembly, submitted to be voted upon in a student body referendum or rejected by a four-fifths vote of the assembly. A successful petition cannot be vetoed by the president. 

In response to criticism of CSG for its current financial decisions, Chowdhury told The Daily she believes her administration is upholding the values of CSG. 

“CSG, student government and the Assembly were created out of student protests, anti-war and anti-apartheid sentiments from students,” Chowdhury said. “This very body was created out of an act of protest, so we are doing what historically this organization was meant to do, which is protest and stand up to the University and make student voices heard.”

Daily Staff Reporters Delilah Dakis and Edith Pendell can be reached at delilahd@umich.edu and ependell@umich.edu.

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