This academic year, the Student Activities Council received criticism for over-allocating its budget from the Undergraduate Assembly by $169,992, with the intention of covering it through the $103,837 reserve fund.
In 1998, SAC was in the exact opposite situation: it had more funds than it originally thought.
On April 2, 1998, The Daily Pennsylvanian reported that SAC’s reserve funds contained $357,492, almost twice the amount expected.
Despite the surprise surplus of funds, SAC Chairman Sang Cha — then a College junior — tried to pass a referendum to recover $30,000 which were reallocated by the UA to the Interfraternity Council. “It just goes to show that SAC is unwilling to give money to any group they can’t control,” Interfraternity Council President and College junior at the time Josh Belinfante said.
Cha responded by saying that SAC did not have the “luxury” to take money out of the reserve fund. “It’s always good to be cautious,” Cha said. “If you start a trend of dipping into the reserve fund, it will continue. And once the money is gone, it is not likely to reappear.”
Figures from the Office of Student Affairs show that SAC’s reserve fund remained above $400,000 between 2006 and 2008, as reported by the DP.
Current SAC Chairman and College junior Vinay Rao cited an “exponential increase” in the number of student groups seeking SAC funding as the impetus for SAC’s recent dip into reserve funds.
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