At the Oct. 19 senate meeting, SGA passed two bills to fund prizes and UCCS merch for the annual Friendsgiving Bash that is set to take place in the middle of November.
The bills were presented by senator of education Isaiah Watkins, who worked on the first Friendsgiving Bash from last year. The annual event hosts a free thanksgiving meal for students, and it will now include bingo with prizes for students to win.
The Friendsgiving Merch bill allocates a total of $2,370.75 to purchase 300 pairs of fuzzy socks and 300 earmuffs with the UCCS logo on them. Watkins believes the merch will be a great incentive to draw students into the event.
According to Watkins, the amount of free merchandise available this year is triple the amount that was purchased for last year. He explained that the merchandise they had last year ran out, so they want to increase the total amount of merchandise so every student can have some.
Senator of graduate students Bridgette Guererro agreed with the bill. “I love the fact that they’re UCCS-branded … not everyone can afford going to the bookstore and getting something. So, this is like a way of being able to have something to show pride of the school.”
The Friendsgiving Bash Bingo Prizes Bill allocates a total of $658.29 to purchase a Nintendo Switch Lite, an air fryer, two mini-projectors, two hammocks, a self-care package and a Lego set to be given away as prizes during bingo.
“So now, if you’re at Friendsgiving, you got your stuff, you eat food, you’re talking to people and then someone screams ‘we’re playing bingo,’ you gotta have prizes,” Watkins said.
Senator of business Amanda Ford spoke in favor of the bill. “I think [it] will be nice to have an activity with a little bit of a competitive aspect for students. Like, they’ve got some good prizes that make them want to stay at the event and compete, so I think it’s a great idea,” she said.
Both bills were passed unanimously by the senate. In the upcoming weeks, Watkins said there will be more bills presented to cover costs such as food and bingo supplies for the event.
The Friendsgiving Bash will take place on Nov. 15 from 6-10 p.m. in Berger Hall.
In other news:
- Student director of finance Ian Sachs reported that around $35,000 was drawn from the CarryForward fund, which are unspent funds from the Student Activity Fee, due to a bad debt charge from the 2020-21 fiscal year. Bad debt refers to departments being allocated a certain amount of money for budgeting that is then lost due to students not paying tuition or fees.
- Senator of the arts Micah Vacco reported that the first week of November starts the respective appreciation weeks for first-generation students, veteran students and commuter students. Student Life will host multiple events throughout the week, including Collaborative Coffee and Donuts, Veterans Day Breakfast and Luncheon, a movie excursion, a commuter giveaway and more.
- The Student Inflationary Proposal Bill was passed, adding another initiative to the ballot in the spring. If passed, this proposal will adjust the current Student Activity Fee for inflation, raising it from $16.06 to $16.65 for the spring and fall semesters and from $8.03 to $8.33 for summer semesters. If the Student Activity Fee Increase is passed in the spring, then it will override this proposal.
Graphic by Lexi Petri.