This letter was sent to Bryn Mawr President Wendy Cadge on Sept. 22, following severe budget cuts to student organizations.
Good afternoon, President Cadge—
I am writing this communication in representation of the student body, in representation of over 140 clubs, committees, and other organizations which compose the Self Governance Association. Without the extreme effort, the amount of precious time by individual club leaders that has been wasted by these organizations average hundreds, up to thousands of hours – there would be no Bryn Mawr College community to promote, to advertise for admissions, and more than anything, to show that Bryn Mawr College, in a moment of extreme political turmoil, truly cares about diversity, equity, and inclusion – about each and every single one of our students.
It is imperative to say more directly what is meant by that final point. In our definition of community, in my definition of community, as a person of color, this idea prioritizes the over forty active multicultural organizations, of which multiple have received initially zero dollars for this round of budgets. This is the first time within the decade that this is a decision that Treasurers had to make to reflect the mere $232,000 we distributed among 102 organizations that applied in general. The breakdown of this budget is telling of the extremely infuriating situation we are in as a student body – I have attached our presentation that we have shared to the Representative Council last night.
Last night, we were saved from forcing students to compete for five hundred dollars by an extremely generous donation from the Haverford Student Council in the amount of $3,500 dollars. We are extremely grateful. We also cannot depend on the resources of other students, and our sibling institution, to rectify what is a Bryn Mawr College crisis.
There is no way that the Self-Governance Association moves forward, or continues to exist, if we do not state the obvious. There is no world where we continue to function without funding external to the Self-Governance Association, given that we must continue to sustain the given number of organizations, including any that form in the following years.
We can no longer afford to pay for Traditions. We can no longer afford to pay for club sports organizations. We want these essential aspects of our community to continue, but next semester is completely uncertain.
Our freshmen class, the most engaged class I have witnessed in my lifetime, will have, in their first year of Bryn Mawr, the complete opposite of what a Bryn Mawr experience should be.
Last night, our Representative Council demanded a meeting with you to discuss this budgetary crisis and seek your immediate assistance. All students at Bryn Mawr College, especially those in our clubs, organizations, committees, and so forth, would be invited to this meeting — it would be a discussion between all of us. The SGA Executive Board is also petitioning the Alumnae Association to alert them once more about the dire straits we are in, and to ensure that donations can begin being made directly to our SGA account so that we may distribute them. Our own students are turning toward their respective alums, to scrambling for fundraising. Some of our students are in debt from paying ahead for their major events.
We have a meeting to re-do voting on Sunday, September 28, at 8:10pm in Rhodes Dining Hall. Please prioritize this to the best of your ability to understand our situation and our frustration to the highest extent.
Thank you so much,
Esénia Bañuelos
President of the Bryn Mawr College Self Governance Association
