The Student Activities Council will fund some political and religious groups for the first time in the upcoming year.
Budgets for the Penn Democrats and PRISM, an interfaith religious group, were both approved at SAC's annual meeting on April 22.
Though political and religious groups have historically been denied University funding, the issue became particularly salient when political groups spent a large amount of money funding events during the election last year.
Due to Penn's tax status as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the University cannot specifically fund political parties, candidates or activities that specifically promote a religious organization, according to College junior and SAC chairwoman Natalie Vernon.
However, for the first time, SAC is giving some money to the Penn Dems for expenses relating to nonpartisan or non-candidate-related activities and PRISM for interfaith and intercommunity activities.
The College Republicans were not eligible to receive funding because they were de-recognized by SAC after failing to attend the required number of meetings, Vernon said. But outgoing chairman of the College Republicans and College junior Zac Byer said the group plans to reapply for recognition.
Vernon said she is happy with the funding SAC will provide in the coming year, as well as the progress made in funding religious and political groups.
"It's a big deal the way it's been restructured," she said. "Now they are treated like every other group."
Vernon said the Penn Dems and PRISM received their budgets by use of the same guidelines SAC used for other groups.
While College sophomore, Penn Dems President and former Daily Pennsylvanian ad representative Jordan Levine said the budget is a "good first step," he added that the amount leaves much to be desired.
The Penn Dems only received $400 to cover expenses, and the organization can apply for about $400-500 of contingency funding to cover additional costs, such as room rentals, for specific events, Levine said.
"Four-hundred dollars does not go a long way, especially at Penn," he said.
According to Levine, $400 dollars was about the cost of room and microphone use for the District Attorney Candidate Forum the Penn Dems held earlier in the semester.
College junior and PRISM co-chairman Sam Adelsberg said the organization is satisfied with the funding the group received, calling it a "positive step forward for religious life on campus."
He added that he hopes in the future SAC would be able to fund religion-specific cultural events that do not proselytize.
Vernon said the next step in helping political groups on campus get more money is to establish a Political Action Committee that would allow the groups to get funds for candidate-specific events.
Byer said the College Republicans and Penn Dems, in conjunction with SAC, are researching PACs used at other colleges to determine what the best model for Penn would be.
