Boston University Student Government approved funding requests for four student organizations during its Monday meeting.
The National Society of Black Engineers, Terrier Ride Engineer Club, Cheer Team and DREAM program all presented at the meeting to request additional funding from the StuGov senate.
Before the passage of amendments, the total of the requests was $6,470 — the same amount of money left in the Senate General Ledger, according to Senate Chair Tommie Lee.
Lee said she is working with Vice President of Finance Kirsten Saint-Fort to allocate about $1,000 more into the ledger.
Jeremiah Somoine, internal vice president of the National Society of Black Engineers, said the purpose of the group’s funding request was to help cover transportation costs for attendees of NSBE’s 2025 national convention.
With the help of funds from StuGov, the BU NSBE chapter attended the 2024 NSBE Convention and won the Region 1 Chapter of the Year award.
“Last year, we took 40 [members],” Somoine said. “In 2022 and 2023 and the years prior to that, we were able to take all of our active members, because we had about 175 total members. Now, it’s not feasible to do that anymore, so we settled on the number 40.”
BU NSBE originally requested $2,000, but this amount was later amended to $900, and passed with 34 votes in the affirmative.
Daniel Ulrich, founder and president of Terrier Ride Engineering Club, a group for aspiring engineers in the theme park industry, said TREC is attending the upcoming Ride Engineering Competition that requires additional funding for transportation and registration.
TREC originally requested $970, but two amendments were passed to lower the amount to $780. The final motion passed with 33 votes in the affirmative.
“It is really exciting to know that there’s funding available to get those kinds of dreams fulfilled,” Ulrich said.
Captains and members of the BU Cheer Team presented the third funding request, requesting $2,000 for transportation costs.
The team highlighted its Division 1 status and its impact on the BU community. However, BU Athletics does not give Cheer Team funding, instead classifying it as a “Spirit Squad,” leaving many members to pay for expenses out of pocket.
“The number [of team members] started at 25 at the beginning of the season, but then due to the cost of everything, we’ve had six people not be able to attend because they can’t pay for it,” one member said. “We would like to not lose any more talented athletes.”
Cheer Team’s funding request passed with 29 votes in the affirmative.
The last funding request was from the DREAM program, a nonprofit mentoring program that pairs college students with children from affordable housing communities in Boston.
The program requested $1,500 for transportation and event costs, speaking about the impact DREAM makes on Boston youth and the lack of other youth programming in the city. Funding for the program passed with 34 votes in the affirmative.
“Whenever we talk with these parents, like sometimes we see them at Star Market, they just come up to us and just thank us for just taking the time to give their kids different opportunities and different experiences,” said Family Recruitment Chair Whitney Amoako. “With this $1,500, we can not only reach out to these kids … but influence them far beyond just their childhood.”
