UA presidential candidate alleges executive board used funds for 'inappropriate services'

Undergraduate Assembly presidential candidate Maria Curry alleged in the first presidential debate that the current UA executive board used money earned from their airport shuttle service to pay for "inappropriate services," such as alcohol and expensive meals. Her opponent, current UA Treasurer Natasha Menon, and UA President Michael Krone confirmed that funds went toward a social event, but said the UA did not violate any rules.

At the first presidential debate on Monday, Curry, who is a College and Wharton junior, said "in the past, members of [the executive board] haven't used [airport shuttle revenue] in the best ways," referring to the social event held by the UA executive board for the assembly body.

The UA offers annual subsidized airport shuttles for students traveling for Thanksgiving and spring breaks. Curry said the shuttle revenue was used to fund alcohol and food at a social event at Positano Coast, a restaurant in Philadelphia. The event was held last spring and was open to UA members.

Members of the executive board — including Menon and Krone — confirmed the money was used for a social event, but stood by the decision.

Current UA Speaker and Menon's running mate Brian Goldstein said that the social event was hosted to help UA members bond so they could work together more effectively. Goldstein, who is a College junior, said the goal of the executive board in hosting the event was to move away from the UA's past of being a divided body.

"In the past, the UA used to be an extremely politicized, angry organization," Goldstein said. "No one would work on anything together. One of the big priorities in the past five years has been promoting internal cohesion and making bonding a priority."

Goldstein added that there are no guidelines dictating what the UA can or cannot spend money earned from their airport shuttles on.

In response to Curry's claims at the presidential debate, Menon, who is a College junior, countered by saying that she endorsed an amendment — which was drafted by Menon and approved after discussion with Curry and other UA members — that would require the UA to report all revenue in their annual budget to improve transparency. UA budget reports prior to the 2019-2020 academic school year did not contain a record of revenue earned from airport shuttles.

Curry said she believes that using student funds to buy alcohol, without explicitly informing the student body where their money is going, is inappropriate.

“My issue is just transparency,” Curry said. “If you don’t see an issue with spending that money on activities like that, then why don’t you let the student body know so that they can have their own take on it?”

Menon said that the revenue being used to fund social events has been an effective way to improve the efficiency of the UA.

"The revenue being used for internal cohesion and bonding is really important and there has been a marked increase in productivity from our body because of that feeling of community," Menon said.

Krone compared the UA's usage of the funds to the many student groups that hold fundraisers to pay for internal events. He said that although the airport shuttles are a fundraiser, the UA doesn't advertise them as such to the student body. The shuttles are promoted as a service, since the primary function is to provide transportation for the students.

Curry raised the issue because as chair of the UA's Dining, Housing, and Transit committee, she was confused why she had to pay for food for her committee meetings out of pocket. She said she found out the revenue was funding the social event by asking some members of the executive board – Krone and Goldstein – where the money was going.

"I just became curious, because in my head I'm thinking, we have all this money from UA shuttles, let alone the budget itself," Curry said. "I think it's very reasonable to have a reasonable amount of snacks now and then at meetings."

At the debate, both presidential tickets emphasized the need for greater transparency in the UA budget process, voicing their support for the recently passed amendment and vowing to continue to be transparent in the future.

"I think it's important to be transparent that we do have this revenue, and I'm glad that Maria and Natasha both endorsed this revenue budget amendment," Goldstein said.

Curry and Menon met for two debates, agreeing on many policy ideas, such as expanding Counseling and Psychological Services clinicians to more locations on campus, lobbying for more space on campus for cultural groups, and calling on the University to divest from fossil fuels. Menon touted her previous experience on the UA executive board as her biggest asset, while Curry highlighted her record of completing projects like Penn Rides.

The vice presidential candidates debated on Tuesday, similarly agreeing on their overlapping policy proposals such as meeting more frequently with student groups to communicate their concerns to administration. Serota promised to bring a fresh perspective to the role, while Goldstein said his experience working closely with two vice presidents as a member of the UA executive board for the past two years has prepared him to take on the role himself.

The voting period, which opened Monday at 12 a.m., will close Thursday at 5 p.m. The results will be announced at 9 p.m. Thursday evening.

A previous version of this article indicated an amendment was drafted by Curry and her running mate when in fact they proposed it. The DP regrets the error.