AU Club Council (AUCC) announced an amendment to recent policy changes in an email sent to clubs Oct. 4. Now, student clubs are able to charge admission to events when 100 percent of the profits from the event will be donated to a philanthropic organization.
This change was announced after several clubs voiced their concern regarding the new rules that prohibited clubs from charging students admission to events funded by AUCC, The Eagle previously reported.
AUCC Chair Brian O’Gara said this change was a result of feedback AUCC heard from student organizations whose programming consisted mainly of philanthropic events.
“We heard feedback from clubs and we realized that if you’re paying once for AUCC funds and then once at the door for charity then you’re technically paying two different causes,” O’Gara said. “So we felt because of that, we should make the shift where if you’re donating 100 percent of the event proceeds to charity you can charge admission.”
Isabella Dominique, the vice president of AU’s NAACP chapter, said she was happy with the policy change as it will allow the organization to host their annual Thanksgiving Dinner and donate the proceeds to SOUL, a nonprofit that offers programs for student-athletes in D.C.
“Because we established this partnership prior to the AUCC policy changes, we were stuck in a ‘pickle’ because we weren't sure how we would get enough non-AU students to attend for the donation to be substantial,” Dominique said.
Michaela Becconsall, the treasurer of AU’s She’s the First chapter, said she’s happy that AUCC amended the policy but is frustrated that her organization will not be able to keep any of the proceeds from events. She’s the First hosts an annual fundraising gala to benefit girls’ education across the globe as well as other small fundraising events throughout the year.
“We will still keep pushing for the reversal of our inability to keep the profits we raise at events. However, we will still host our events likely as planned this semester,” Becconsall said. “We will have to find donations for most of the food and other supplies to run the event, which will severely limit how we plan to put it on.”
Moving forward, AUCC does not think they will be amendeming any more policies this semester, O’Gara said.
“There’s always the possibility that if Student Activities hears back from a lot of groups about how stuff isn’t working, they’ll switch things at the new semester,” O’Gara said. “But I think for now, in terms of this semester, we’re pretty set.”
The Student Activities office did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the policy change.
As part of their outreach to clubs, AUCC will be hosting a Pizza and Policy event on Monday, Oct. 15 to discuss their new policy changes with students.
