If you were asked to name every student club on the College’s campus, you would fail drastically. A small liberal arts college like Colby College is home to students with a wide array of interests. While some clubs are more popular than others – such as The Outing Club, which roughly 60 percent of the student body have requested email updates for – there remain dozens of other smaller clubs, such as the Colby Quilting Club and The Tea Club. Colby’s Student Government Association (SGA) works hard to ensure each student with a unique niche or interest has the opportunity to pursue it. Not to mention, the College is located in a very rural, isolated area. Many students rely on club activities for social opportunities, and activities. How the College has managed funds dedicated to student activities has raised various questions.
Dev Purohit `25 currently serves as the Student Government Treasurer; his job is to manage the money the college gives to student activities. After consulting with Purohit, it is clear that his top priority is making sure that students have access to the funds they need to pursue their interests. Purohit explained that there are 50 annually budgeted clubs and about 150 non-budgeted clubs. To receive money, the non-budgeted clubs go through a process to obtain one-time funding. “Every club can get money. It’s our number one priority while distributing our SGA budget,” Purohit says. He had the figures to prove it. Depicted in pie chart format, Purohit showed how 54 percent of the budget goes directly into club funding.
“We’re managing about $450,000,” Purohit says. “While this sounds like a big number, it’s not a lot of money if you consider it on a per student and per club basis.” Purohit compared Colby College’s student activity budgets to that of Northeastern University: “At Northeastern, the average club that’s budgeted gets $19,000 a year […] The average club at Colby gets $4,887 a year.” Purohit acknowledges that Northeastern University is a much bigger school than Colby, but echoes that club funding needs to be prioritized more. “I’m leading a group on budget advocacy because I strongly believe our budget is not big enough. It needs to be bigger to support clubs here and to support students,” Purohit insists.
Purohit also explained the influence of inflation on budget distribution, “In a way our budget has gone down, if you account for inflation. Things are getting more expensive, and our budget isn’t really reflecting that increase.” Purohit cites an example from a trip SGA planned to take students to Freeport and Portland during January. The bus chartering students has gone from $800 to $1,200 in only two years. Purohit ended the interview establishing his outlook on his role as head manager of the SGA budget. “My philosophy has always been, how can I get you the most money possible to help the most people.”
Emma Donnelly `25 is currently a co-president of the largest club on campus– the Colby Outing Club (COC). COC leads over 100 trips a year and is responsible for planning outdoor excursions and providing gear. This year, SGA gave COC roughly $21,000. Donnelly explains, “This was cut significantly from last year. In 2018, we had $50,000, $40,000 the year after that, and it’s just decreased since.” To her understanding, “It’s just because there’s more clubs on campus and less money to give to each club.”
Donnelly described the $21,000 budget as “tight,” considering the cost of replacing gear, renting cars, and hiring guides. Luckily, COC has recently acquired a new source of income. President David Greene directed $20,000 in additional funding to COC after a meeting with Donnelly and her co-president Kristin Cohrs `25. “He had a vision for the outdoors at Colby, and wanted to enhance it. He offered that money to us on the spot,” Donnelly recounts. Donnelly emphasizes “The Outing Club benefits a lot of students. Many students come to Colby because of the outdoor opportunities that we provide.” This outreach reflects Purohit’s philosophy–that the club’s outreach should be reflected in its budget.
Thomas Kiernan `25, president of the Colby Music Incubator (CMI), expressed similar sentiments. Colby Music Incubator is in charge of connecting student musicians with performance opportunities, sound engineers, musical instruments, and gear. Their budget currently sits at 8,000 dollars, $2,000 less than last year. Kiernan explained that while he does want to emphasize the importance of this $8,000, “ideally it would be a little greater.” Kiernan explained that over 50 people, including recording artists and bands, use the CMI space weekly, and roughly 300 people are in the club’s group chat. Kiernan explained that with more money he’d “invest in guitarist and bassists pedals. The cost is a barrier to entry for people to even try it out.” Kiernan also explained that the budget for arts and performance groups overall was decreased, and it was up to the array of organizations to negotiate who got what. “We did compromise a little bit so that Colby Dancers would have some extra money, and acapella groups could visit other schools,” Kiernan explained.
The Colby Echo’s budget has also decreased from $21,000 to $17,000 over the last year. This has resulted in a decrease in paid jobs in the Echo. In past years, reporters were paid an hourly wage for each edition. However, now only eight out of the roughly 40 positions on the Echo receive pay. This is due to a recent shift from an hourly wage system to a stipend structure, with a minimum stipend of $500 per semester limiting the amount of staff that can be paid.
Although Senior Associate Director of Financial Planning and Budget Nora Dore was initially approached for an interview, she declined to participate in this article. While the College’s student clubs are provided with essential funding, the budget is increasingly thinning out as costs rise and more clubs are created. As the College continues to expand, it’s a guarantee that fighting for more funding will be essential to ensure that all student organizations can thrive.
~ Molly Garvey `28
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