The Student Activities Council announced yesterday that it plans to give annual budgets to political groups for non-partisan and non-candidate-related purposes starting in the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
The move will give regular SAC funding to political groups for the first time, explained College junior and SAC chairwoman Natalie Vernon. Previously, SAC has only funded specific political events on a case-by-case basis.
Due to Penn's tax status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the University cannot specifically fund political parties or candidates, said Wendy White, Office of the General Counsel senior vice president.
However, Vernon said SAC will be able to give money to political groups for activities that do not support a specific candidate, such as educational events, debates and voter registration efforts.
The move to provide groups with budgets follows a decision SAC made last spring when it changed its constitution to allow funding for groups involved in political activity.
The group was working with the OGC and political student leaders this fall to to explore the extent to which SAC could fund groups on a regular basis, Vernon said.
At a meeting yesterday, representatives of SAC, the Undergraduate Assembly, the College Republicans and the Penn Democrats met with officials from the Office of Student Life, Vice Provost for University Life, the Office of the General Counsel and the Office of Government Affairs to address discuss the concerns about funding.
In light of this discussion, University officials gave SAC the go-ahead to give political groups budgets as long as the money is allocated appropriately.
Vernon said she is happy that progress is being made toward funding student political activities, calling it "momentous."
"Finally political groups can be treated fairly," she said.
University representatives at the meeting also found the discussion to be productive.
White called the meeting "excellent" because students asked good questions, a sentiment echoed by VPUL spokesman Matt Waller, who said the students were well-prepared.
Vernon said these new efforts would not give political groups at Penn as much funding as student political groups at other Ivy League universities currently receive, but the new policy is a good first step.
She said SAC will determine what budgets for these groups will look like, how much money will be funded and what measures will be taken to make sure funding is spent appropriately.
She added that SAC is also still going to work with student political groups to figure out how they can receive money if they want to bring candidates to campus.
