USG Discusses Increase in Student Activity Fees

we have every year around $1.2 million of activity fees of which 30% of those funds is allocated to the Office of Student Involvement (OSI) for things like spring weekend or senior week events or orientation, $100,000 goes to the Campus Activities Board (CAB) to organize all of the events that they do throughout the year and the rest is distributed between block funded clubs and event funded clubs,” said Vidal.

Hjertberg explained that due to inflation and the large number of new clubs that have been created over the past few years, they need to raise their budget by increasing activity fees to account for those changes. Maltzman also stated that, overall, the amount of money that clubs are requesting is much greater than the amount of money that the budget committee is able to currently allocate.

Vidal stated that club membership has increased about 37% over the last four years from data of the operations packets. That increase requires a change in the budget. Vidal explained that university clubs requested a total of $800,000 from the budget committee but USG only had $500,000 available and a big part of it already goes to club sports and block funded clubs, making the pool of available funds even less.

Both Maltzman and Hjertberg reiterated the fact that clubs have not been able to receive the money that they have been requesting properly due to lack of available funds. They explained that during the 2022 Budget Day where clubs were receiving their allocated budget, the committee realized that they did not have enough money to give to every club so they decided to give every club an equal $500 budget. Maltzman stated that clubs were rightfully upset with the small budget that they received but that the activity fees referendum will fix this budget issue.

Vidal explained that the increase will benefit the student body because of the greater funds that will be available to clubs, the increase in the amount of rollover that clubs will have every year and it will greatly benefit CAB and events like orientation or senior week.

He also said that he hopes the activity fees increase will help clubs that are competing at national levels like Model UN, Debate, Mock Trial, club sports, etc. be able to compete without any constraints.

“Our main goal is to close the gap between the amount of clubs that are requesting very good appeals without any type of issues and the lack of funding that we have to allocate to every single budget request that we are getting. That is the main goal. To close that gap. Once we close that gap, everything else comes as a consequence,” explained Vidal.

Hjertberg and Maltzman both encourage students who are not currently in any clubs to join. They said that clubs are a great way for building relationships and to contribute to the Fordham community.

They explained that the entire USG board seems to be on board with the increase and they hope that the student body will also see the need for the increase.

Sophia Bere, FCRH ’26, gave her opinion on the possible increase. “I think it’s a bit unfair for people who are not in clubs to have to pay for it but they also have the choice to be in clubs too.” She explained that she is sure that the increase would help the clubs but there is also the matter of people who are not in clubs also having to pay the increase.

Model UN President Alex Yankovsky, FCRH ’24, said that he is completely in favor of the activity fees referendum and increase. Yankovsky said that, as a club leader, he wants to be able to provide as many opportunities to club members as possible but, with the current budget that clubs receive, he feels that he is unable to do that.

He explained that he has not been able to bring all of his club members to events because they have not had the funding.

“Fordham should strive to increase opportunities every year,” Yankovsky said.

He said he feels that an increase in activity fees will bring more opportunities to the Fordham community.

Fordham Community Celebrates Women’s History Month Across Campuses

FROM WOMEN, PAGE 1 be found in our calendars around campus, or on our Instagram @FordhamWHM.” recognized International Women’s Day in 1977, which emerged from the labor movements in the early 1900s.

Fordham’s Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) celebrated the month at both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses. Sayema Abedin, Lincoln Center Graduate Intern at OMA, oversaw the Women’s History Committee.

“We have a total of 10 events planned for Women’s Herstory Month,” said Abedin. “We have 5 more events planned after Spring Break: movie night in RH, movie night in LC, Love Letter Tabling in RH, [Women’s History Month] Celebration in RH and [Women’s History Month] Celebration in LC. All of the dates and locations can

Abedin emphasized that it is important to celebrate Women’s History Month to recognize and highlight the significant contributions women throughout history and the present day have made that are constantly overlooked.

“One of our main themes this month is to highlight forgotten women in history, so that we can honor their work and remember their contributions,” said Abedin.

“In our kickoff luncheon on both campuses, we have awarded 24 female-identified student leaders, faculty and staff at Fordham to show our appreciation for all of their hard work.”

Abedin hopes that students are able to use what they learned from OMA’s programming for Women’s History Month and be able to use it throughout every month.

Abedin added, “I hope that students have learned a new name or two of forgotten women in history.”

In addition to OMA’s programming, Fordham’s chapter of the Women’s Network is also celebrating the month.

Mia Peros, FCRH ’24, Fordham’s chapter president, explained that Women’s Network aims at “redefining ambition and creating a space for marginalized groups and those who are usually underrepresented in the workforce to have the resources, community and all the possible ability and support that [they] can give towards professional development and finding a career.”

“We accept anyone who does not identify as a man,” said Peros. “We are really dedicated to uplifting those who are underrepresented in the workforce.”

Peros explained the Women’s Network has 140 chapters across the country, and it was founded in 2017 in Syracuse by a student who wanted to learn more about women in business and support others.

For Women’s History Month, Peros said that the group will host an outing into Manhattan towards the end of the month. Peros explained that there is a lot of professional development and more serious topics covered during the month, so the outing will focus more on bonding for the group.

“We are kind of just doing a little bonding trip to kind of appreciate each other,” said Peros. “We are going to Central Park. We are going to paint and have a picnic, so we are super excited about that.”

Peros added that she hopes that students will realize that no matter their identity that their voice is never worth less in a professional setting.

“You deserve to be heard. You deserve to be listened to and respected in the professional sphere. Just because barriers have been put up in the past, it does not mean that you cannot break them,” said Peros.

Overall, Peros said that the Women’s Network has many resources, such as interview and resume workshops for students to attend, but in addition, they offer community and support.