“I can feel the frustration in this room,” said Bryn Mawr Self Governance Association (SGA) President Esénia Bañuelos ‘26 as the Fall 2025 Representative Council Budget Meeting commenced in the Great Hall on Sunday, Sept. 21. The aim of the meeting was to provide transparency regarding the current budget crisis and brainstorm a collective path forward for the many student-led committees, clubs and organizations who received little to no funds this semester. Although $3,000 from the Haverford College Student Council Treasurers aided in providing funding for these clubs, the need for a long-term solution to this crisis is apparent.
Prior to the contestations that occurred on Sunday, Sept. 28, 54 out of the 120 student-run clubs, committees, and organizations at Bryn Mawr College received zero dollars in funding. Nearly every Bryn Mawr club was either completely defunded or given a fraction of their typical funding compared to previous semesters. SGA explained that the reasoning behind this shortage was due to an overspending of the post-COVID surplus in the 2023 and 2024 school years. This mishandling of funds has resulted in long-lasting repercussions for the SGA budget, which dropped from an average of roughly $600,000 in 2022-2024 to approximately $250,000 in 2025.
Discourse surrounding a just allocation of funding abounded. The fairness of clubs such as Fencing Club and Art Club receiving $9,000 and $4,000 of funding this semester respectively while leaving others completely defunded was brought into question. Many of these clubs serve important roles in fostering an inclusive and engaged campus community. Dear Asian Youth, Gender Inclusion Committee, Celebrating All Mixed People (CAMP), Adoptees Club, Bryn Mawr Athletic Alliance, and Mawrters for Immigrant Justice were among the affinity and activism-oriented clubs who received no funding this semester prior to the Haverford College Student Treasurers’ donation.
Some argued that costly non-academic clubs such as Fencing Club should have funds channeled through alternate sources. Sophomore Rai Mitra Thakur stood up and said, “I respect the fencing club and I respect its members and the fact that it does need funding. However, who decided it should be part of the academic club budget and not athletics? Fencing is a sport and you can’t deny that. It doesn’t meet the criteria of an academic club.”
Another topic of contention in discussion of fund allocations has been the expense of traditions at Bryn Mawr. The traditions fund for this semester is $82,788.75 and comprises 35.6% of SGA’s total budget. Traditions Mistex Kathleen Tan ‘27 says that although this amount of funding may seem excessive, it is incapable of covering the sole cost of lanterns for first year students, which cost over $100,000. “We don’t want to be taking the majority of SGA’s budget,” said Tan, “but quite frankly, traditions is an incredibly important part of the school. If you enjoy having Lantern Night, May Day, and WTF week, that’s the amount that we have to spend.”
Tan also believes that the administration should feel some level of responsibility in aiding to cover these costs. “[Traditions] should be just as important to the college as [they] are for students,” she said. She also noted that despite the administration not offering funding for traditions, the Bryn Mawr relies on traditions to promote the college in admissions and external affairs.
About halfway through the meeting, the Haverford College Student Treasurers Sophia Goss and Ben Perez-Flesler announced that they will be giving SGA $3,000 to aid in averting the current budget crisis. Goss and Perez-Flesler viewed this decision not so much as a donation but rather a mutually beneficial collaboration. “We’re really excited to work more closely with everyone at Bryn Mawr,” said Perez-Flesler. “This is an important step in that partnership. There hasn’t been as much collaboration between the two student governments in years past leading up to this, and we want to continue to work together.”
On Monday, Sept. 22, Esénia Bañuelos sent out an open letter to President Wendy Cadge expressing the dire need for admin support in fundraising efforts. Bañuelos stated that without any intervention to mitigate the damages inflicted by this funding shortage, Bryn Mawr College will lose any semblance of the community it is today and seeks to become in the future. She expressed particular concern for the first-year students who are being deprived of a full Bryn Mawr experience, writing that they will have “the complete opposite of what a Bryn Mawr experience should be.”
The Representative Council Budget Meeting continued on Sunday, Sept. 28. Club and committee leaders were given 45 seconds to contest, stating their case as to why the amount of funding they requested was necessary. Out of the 41 clubs that requested funding, only two club budgets, those Bryn Mawr Cheer and Consulting Club, were not passed by the Representative Council.
$3,000 of the $9,000 total funds allocated at the Rep-Co meeting was given to SGA by the Haverford College Treasurers. The Haverford College Student Council also covered the costs of AJOYO, Choom Boom, Night Owls, Gymnastics Club leotards and supplies for the Emergency Medical Services Club. The Feminist Coalition was given $130 with the remainder of their expenses covered by SGA.
After the contestations, Bañuelos revealed plans to avert any possibility of this crisis reoccurring. These plans include a plenary resolution to form an Alliance of Multicultural Organizations (AMO) Advisory Board that would allow AMOs to oversee and distribute funds on their own terms. Bañuelos also introduced a potential plenary resolution to create a Budgeting Commitee to distribute the logistical burden of managing funds among a larger group of students and implement a 2.5% increase to student SGA dues.
“Collective negligence is what got us here, and we cannot let collective negligence keep us here,” said Bañuelos as the meeting concluded. Despite recent developments that have substantially improved the situation, there is more work to be done to rectify the budget crisis and ensure a secure future for Bryn Mawr’s many clubs, activities and organizations that deserve to continue on with their initiatives.
Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly listed one affinity club as not receiving funding due to budget cuts, when their lack of funding was due to another reason. The Bi-Co News apologizes for this error.
