AU's Club Council has allocated around $110,000 to 126 clubs who initially requested around $340,000, a process that was "especially difficult because the requested amount was three times greater than our total budget," said AUCC Chair Evan Wagner.
"The Council's job is not to make your wish-list come true," Wagner said, "but to simply defer some of your costs."
Some club members said that waiting to receive the Council's appropriations decision was stressful.
"I spent many days in suspense, hoping that we'll get enough funding," said Candace Leu, president of the Asian Student Association.
Many club executives were also disappointed with their allocation, a byproduct of the difference between the money requested by the clubs and the limited funds the Council could allocate.
Rebecca Alexander, vice-president of Adopt-A-Grandparent, said she knew "we weren't
going to get a lot of money because of our unexpectedly high leftover from last year."
Adopt-a-Grandparent received 8 percent of what they requested this year. The club's president, E.J. Stern, was shocked: "Our organization has thrived here at AU and we are trying to do an incredible thing for the D.C. community with a senior citizen prom, an activity that we will not be able to fund because of our low allocation."
This gap has forced many clubs to reexamine how many activities they will be able to hold.
"The Asian Student Association, which is responsible for Asian-Pacific-American month in April, needs a lot of funding and right now, our allocation is not enough to even cover that expense," Leu said.
Clubs can appeal their allocation, but as Alexander said, "We are probably not going to get that much more money if any and so we are just going to work hard to fundraise."
However, the council was successful in meeting the expectations of some clubs. Though the Jewish Student Association had requested a far greater sum than they received, JSA Chair Rachel Korycan said, "I'm satisfied because we got more than last year."
Almost every single club received more money than they were allocated last year, Wagner said.
The newly recognized Screaming Eagles club was another group pleasantly surprised by their allocation, President Stephen Tucker said.
"I am grateful for the extra money allocated to us, and we will use it to expand Screaming Eagles in the near future by purchasing more food and better prizes to attract new members and encourage higher attendance at AU sporting events," Tucker said.
The process entailed three weeks of hearings and discussion by Council members, Wagner said. This year's council was "run very professional and efficiently," Laura Carollo, president of Habitat for Humanity said.
The council became independent of the Student Confederation two years ago, and many club leaders impressed this year with the application, renewal and hearing process.
"I've been to council hearings for the past three years and by far, this is the best experience that I've had," Stern said.
Though council members must be former club executive board members, Wagner, former executive board member for the College Republicans, said that they do not show favoritism to their former association.
"The council was more critical of groups that elected them and the groups they used to belong to," Wagner said.
Melissa Tanguay, president of AU Circle K, said, "The council all took their jobs quite serious and it was very intense."
Although the appeal process is not over and some individual clubs are expressing some concerns, most clubs can begin planning their events.
"With the money," Wagner said, "AU clubs will hold between five or six hundred to over a thousand events on campus this year"
