SGA allocates $361,207 for FY26

Dylan Pichnarcik / THE GATEPOST

By Dylan Pichnarcik News Editor Student Government Association allocated $361,207 to student organizations from the Student Activities Trust Fund (SATF) for Fiscal Year 2026 during this year's “Big Budget” meeting Feb. 10. The four Group One organizations - The Framingham State Activities Board (FSAB), The Gatepost, WDJM, and SGA - are required to present their yearly budgets to SGA at “Big Budget.” Groups Two through Six are not required to present their budgets in person and are approved together. At “Big Budget,” SGA also groups each of the 46 student organizations based on the amount allocated to each organization. FSAB President Ben Hurney and Vice President Kira James presented FSAB’s proposed budget, totaling $121,400. There was no change to FSAB’s budget for FY26, according to SGA President Evelyn Campbell. FSAB has allocated $71,200 for on-campus events, including Sandbox and themed Bingos throughout the year. James said she hopes to incorporate new themes in the future as well as collaborate with other student organizations for on-campus events. Hurney said most of the on-campus events allocation will go to Sandbox, “which is usually $20,000 to $30,000.” According to Hurney, this year’s Sandbox is May 9. A motion to approve the $71,200 on-campus allocation was made by Senator Anais Vazques, which passed unanimously. Hurney proposed a budget of $40,700 for the off-campus events budget. According to Hurney, FSAB only hosts a few off-campus trips each year. These include an annual trip to New York City, apple picking, and trips to amusement parks. Hurney also said FSAB will be partnering with the Outing Club to host a trip to an aquarium. A motion was made to approve the allocation by Senator Alyssa MacDougall and passed unanimously. Hurney proposed a $2,500 allocation for membership and development. Treasurer Khoa Bùi asked Hurney to discuss FSAB’s current general board meetings. Hurney said they have only held a few general board meetings this year because “it's been pretty hard to get a general board going.” To combat this, Hurney said they created the “Knights of FSAB” with the focus of recruiting students to assist with the planning of Sandbox. FSAB has recruited six members so far. A motion to approve the allocation was made by Diversity and Inclusion Officer Ana-Julia Riberio, which passed unanimously. Hurney’s final proposal was for a $6,000 allocation to be used for FSAB’s attendance at the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) conference. He said, “In October, we went to Providence, Rhode Island to attend NACA, which is a conference of all the different school activities boards, which is actually where we came up with the idea for a Renaissance faire. “And there's just a lot of good little classes we go to, and then also we meet a lot of the vendors, so we found a Renaissance or a Shakespearean improv group that we might look into.” A motion to approve the allocation was made by Secretary Jazmany Reyes, which passed unanimously. A final motion to approve FSAB’s total FY26 Budget for $121,400 was made by Bùi and passed unanimously. SGA SGA was presented by Campbell and Bùi. They requested a 5.81% increase to the overall budget, totaling $50,075. In FY25, SGA was allocated $47,325. The first part of SGA’s budget is the “General Budget” comprised of $12,500, a 9.52% increase from FY25. This part of the budget goes toward SGA events, outreach, and various materials, according to the SGA proposed budget. Bùi discussed changes to the “General Budget” grouping outreach and events with a cost of $2,000. The money will go to funding, tabling materials and SGA events. This year, SGA combined three line items under the category “SGA Outreach Programs.” A motion to approve the $12,500 “General Budget” allocation was made by Secretary Jazamany Reyes and passed with one abstention. The next part of SGA’s budget is its operations budget. There is a 2% increase to the total allocation of $25,575. The increase came from an increase in the cost of the RamLink subscription, according to Bùi. A motion was made to approve the $25,575 allocation by MacDougall. It passed with one abstention. The next allocation group discussed was SGA’s training budget, with a total allocation of $3,250 - an 8.33% increase from FY25. Bùi said the money will be used to bring members of FSU to the Bryant Conference. “That's basically the conference where a lot of the student government associations from other universities come to meet, exchange experiences, and see how things operate,” he said. A motion was made by Events Coordinator Alix Ayoub to allocate $3,250 to SGA’s training budget for FY26, which passed with one abstention. A motion to approve SGA’s total allocated budget of $50,075 was made by Publicist Jaelynn Moon, and passed with one abstention. The Gatepost The Gatepost, represented by Editor-in-Chief Sophia Harris and Associate Editors Maddison Behringer and Ryan O’Connell, proposed a total budget of $34,870. A 3.27% increase from FY25. The Gatepost’s FY25 allocation was $33,610. The first line item, a proposed allocation of $19,000, was for newspaper administration, a 2.96% increase from FY25. Harris said the reason for the increase was due to The Gatepost switching to a more expensive printing press. “I got a notification from Gannett, the company that is currently printing the newspaper, saying that they closed one of their offices. So they're consolidating their contracts, and we were one of the contracts to be let go,” Harris said. She added, “So Desmond [McCarthy] and I scrambled over winter break to get bids, because the way that this works, we needed a certain number of bids to justify choosing one for our printer.” A motion to approve the $19,000 allocation was made by Senator Shawn Brooks and passed unanimously. The next line item, with a 1.96% increase, was for licensing, membership, and awards. Harris proposed a total allocation of $3,242. The money allocated will be used for award submissions to the New England Newspaper and Press Association and The Society of Professional Journalists, according to Harris. Harris said the reason for the increase is to include more work created by The Gatepost’s staff of 43 students for award consideration. A motion to approve the allocation was made by MacDougall and passed unanimously. A motion to approve The Gatepost’s total budget was made by Riberio and passed unanimously. WDJM WDJM, represented by President Alexis Schlesinger and Treasurer Michael Trueswell, requested a total allocation of $15,762, a 5.80% increase from FY25. WDJM’s total budget during FY25 was $14,892. The first line item, station activities, for events planned by WDJM, was allocated $3,100 from the total budget. Trueswell and Schlesinger also requested a 21% increase for activities, which will be used for “Ram Fest,” an outdoor music event WDJM is planning “on doing this semester, once it gets a little warmer,” Trueswell said. A motion to approve the allocation was made by Riberio and passed unanimously. The second line item, station administration, was increased by 3%, with $10,437 allocated for the station's inspection, which according to Trueswell, is required every three years. A motion was made to approve the amount by Bùi and passed unanimously. Schlesinger then discussed WDJM’s licensing, which was increased by 1% from FY25, totaling $1,925. She said the subscriptions required by WDJM are necessary and “if we did not have them, WDJM would not exist.” A motion was made by Moon and passed unanimously. A final motion to approve WDJM’s total budget of $15,762 was made by Bùi and passed unanimously. Allocation Groups A motion was made by Riberio to allocate a total of $222,107 to Group One organizations, which passed with one abstention. After the Group One organizations were approved, SGA moved on to grouping and allocating the remaining 42 student organizations. Each organization is put into a group and allocated the same amount of money. A motion to allocate Group Two organizations $67,500 was made by MacDougall and passed with one abstention. The Group Two organizations - Black Student Union, Comic Book Club, The FSU Dance Team, The Hilltop Players, and The Outing Club - will receive a budget of $13,500. A motion to allocate Group Three organizations $54,000 was made by Reyes and passed unanimously. The Group Three organizations - ACDG, Anime Club, Brother 2 Brother, Fashion Club, Gaming Club, History Club, M.I.S.S., The Onyx, and Ski and Snowboard Club - will all receive an allocation of $6,000 from the total. A motion to allocate $13,600 to Group Four organizations was made by Vazques and passed with three abstentions. The Group Four organizations - African Student Association, Chess Club, Education Club, Art Club, Green Initiative, Martial Arts Club, Salvation Youth, and Wildlife Club - will each receive an allocation of $1,700 from the total. A motion to allocate $4,000 to Group Five organizations was made by Riberio and passed with three abstentions. The Group Five organizations - AHP, Cosplay Club, Dungeons and Dragons, Growing in Faith, Hospitality Club, Little Loopers, LUNA, Model UN, Psychology Club, and Ecology Club - will each receive a $400 allocation from the total. Group Six organizations - Muslim Student Association, Menorah Club, Pokémon Club, GEMS, Haitian Student Union, K-Pop Club, ASL Club, Food Science Club, Marketing Club, and Alpha Omega - do not receive an allocated budget. A final motion to allocate $361,207 to the total allocation from SGA’s unallocated funds passed unanimously. [ Editor’s Note: Sophia Harris is the Editor-in-Chief, Maddison Behringer and Ryan O’Connell are Associate Editors, Ben Hurney is the Illustrations Editor, Alexis Schlesinger is a Photos & Design Editor, and Michael Trueswell is a Staff Writer for The Gatepost. ]