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“We believe that the T-shirts benefited all of campus. I believe in the concept that no one is free when anyone is oppressed; the T-shirts contributed to a better atmosphere on campus,” Jensen said to the general assembly.

Prior to general assembly, the Economic Affairs Committee (EAC) met and voted against awarding Spectrum the contingency fund money because the org requested the funds after the T-shirts were purchased. Retroactive funding is not against EAC by-laws, but there has been a long precedent against it.

Jensen said that she wasn’t aware of EAC’s precedent against retroactive funding.

Maisue Xiong, senior and chair of EAC said to the general assembly, “[EAC] acknowledges that the T-shirts are very effective in producing a safe environment for GLBT students, and we recognize that [the budget problem] isn’t a deliberate misstep on Spectrum’s part. The fact is, nowhere is it written that they have to go to EAC before the purchase, but EAC members have decided against retroactive funding because of precedent.”

After Jensen and Xiong spoke, debate was opened on the issue. Debate lasted for nearly all of general assembly’s time, which runs from 11:15 a.m.-12:50 p.m. At one point, discussion halted for a call to end debate, followed by further discussion on whether or not to end debate.

During the debate, several points for and against awarding contingency funds to Spectrum were mentioned.

Erickson argued for maintaining precedent.

“EAC sets guidelines to support precedent to not allow retroactive funding, and HUSC hasn’t done a good job to discourage retroactive funding. Exec[utive] board and [Committee for Social Change] should help fund the $350 and we should avoid using the contingency fund,” Erickson said.

HUSC treasurer Peter Winiecki was also against retroactive funding.

“I’m against retroactive spending, not against Spectrum. They are going to get the $350 from somewhere.
There are 12 different line-items and the Exec board screwed this up for them; HUSC should pay and not the students,” Winiecki said.

DeeDee Shogren, senior and Student Org Committee chair, felt that exceptions can and should be made and that it wasn’t EAC’s fault either, that “they were following their precedents.”

HUSC president Shanelle Evens had similar thoughts.

“HUSC can really get caught up in rules; what is really important is the impact of what we are doing.
Current events on campus have not been positive for the GLBT community, and this couldn’t have been predicted by Spectrum, which meant a increase in need for more shirts and an increased importance of
the shirts. [Spectrum] went to HUSC and other orgs for money, and the only hang-up was timing, because EAC only meets once a week,” Evens said to the assembly.

Sophomore representative Ebony Bagget said HUSC should stick to precedent, but under certain circumstances exceptions should be made.

“As long as we state that this is a special exception and people all know that this is a special exception, I think we should go against precedent,” Bagget said to the general assembly.

At one point in the debate, members of Spectrum felt “personally offended” because during the debate it was mentioned by sophomore representative Graham Smith that “Spectrum counts on HUSC money because they are Spectrum.”

During open forum at the end of general assembly, Smith apologized for his comments about Spectrum.

“I want to apologize if I offended anyone personally; I didn’t intend any offense,” Smith said.

Debate continued through the majority of the general assembly time. Many of those in attendance took part in the sometimes heated assembly. At one point, junior representative Lauren Vikander motioned to postpone the resolution until the next week’s general assembly to determine more of the details of the situation surrounding the funds as a whole. The motion did not pass after a period of debate.

Once debate ended, a roll call vote resulted in 14 voting against EAC’s original ruling, that is, against the resolution to use money from the contingency fund, and 16 voted to uphold EAC’s decision.

In an interview, HUSC vice-president John Mulé said the general assembly’s response to the issue was positive.

“The issue was very complicated and a lot of complicated things came up, and people dealt with it in a well-composed and respectful manner. I think it was a healthy debate,” Mulé said.

Mulé added that the HUSC executive board would look at different ways of helping with the funding at their next meeting.

Jensen said “I feel like HUSC let us down, mostly because we were unintentionally misled. But I’m disappointed that the letter of the rules are more important than what HUSC is here to do, which is benefit the students and the student orgs,” Jensen said.

Jensen also said that Exec board is working to pick up at least some of the $350.

“The fact that the Exec board is willing to help is admirable, because this was a screw-up on their part, but giving us money from their line-items is something they can’t do all the time, and I wish they didn’t have to,” Jensen said.