Board denies theatrical group club status
Colleen McCarthy
Associate News Editor
After several weeks of waiting for the Notre Dame Players, a theatrical group seeking club status recognition at Saint Mary's, to submit its constitution to the Board of Governance, the Board voted unanimously Monday to deny club status to the group.
The Board had requested the group submit its constitution with revisions showing that Saint Mary's students were included in the constitution. One of the main reasons the Notre Dame Players approached Saint Mary's seeking club status was because groups that have club status at Saint Mary's can use O'Laughlin Auditorium free of charge.
Reservations about giving the Notre Dame Players club status at the College were raised because Saint Mary's already has a club, "Thespians Unplugged" geared towards those interested in theater.
Katie Sullivan, a theatre professor at Saint Mary's voiced her concerns about recognizing the Notre Dame club at the Board meeting.
"My antennae went up when I heard another group came from Notre Dame to apply to perform here," said Sullivan. "We already have concerns about our students being able to utilize O'Laughlin Auditorium and the Little Theatre for their performances and another group seeking to perform here cuts into the time our students have in those facilities. To me, to recognize their club so they can use O'Laughlin is to help them with a situation they will have resolved soon anyway with Notre Dame building their new performing arts center."
Sullivan also said that with "Thespians Unplugged" struggling at Saint Mary's because students are involved in so many different activities within the theater department, one more club would simply pull them in yet another direction.
"Our students are already pulled in so many directions," said Sullivan. "Even if their club did want to help meet the needs of our students, our current club at Saint Mary's is struggling to attract student involvement."
In other news:
u Akmaral Omarova, former Student Diversity Board president was named the student representative to the Board of Trustees for the 2001-2002 school year.
"I am really looking forward to being able to stand up for students at these meetings," said Omarova.
u The Board unanimously approved a preliminary budget for the 2001-2002 school year.
"We are estimating conservatively an enrollment of 1,390 students which would result in an estimated amount for our budget of $208,500," said student body treasurer Kim Jensen.
The Student Government Association's budget is made up of the $150 activity fee paid by every Saint Mary's student. The money is then primarily divided between the main Boards of student government including the Student Activities Council, Residence Hall Association, Student Diversity Board, Student Academic Council and Board of Governance.
The Student Diversity Board will see an estimated increase of $5,000 to its budget, bringing its overall budget to $10,000. Student Activities Board will see an estimated increase of $6,300 to help with Pride Week Activities. This was the last Board of Governance meeting of the year.
All News Stories for Tuesday, April 24, 2001
