The Epic Highs and Lows of Funding Circus

To much anticipation, Funding Circus results for Top 40 and identity groups were released last week. After undergoing deliberation among the Treasury, the allocated budgets for each club were submitted to the court of public opinion in the pages of the Quest. 

Period Kollectiv won the day for Funding Circus Fall 2024, securing the #1 ranking. Period Kollectiv received 80.2% of their original budget for a final allocation of $6,374, the second largest allocation of any club.

Period Kollectiv signator and Student Body President Andee Gude ‘26 expressed their approval with the results overall, describing their reaction as “pretty positive.” “While we'll have to cut some quantity of products out of our anticipated stock, we're able to accomplish most of the things we'd been planning to do,” said Gude. These plans include tablings for reproductive products, reproductive health tea steepings, and a series of yoga classes for pain relief, which students can keep an eye out for in the next few months.

At the top in terms of funding allocation was Black Student Union (#7), also led by signator Andee Gude, which received $6,684.50 in funds. This made BSU the highest-funded student group of the Fall 2024 Funding Hell cohort, despite receiving only 65.7% of their requested budget. 

Following up in the #2 spot, Pool Hall made away with $4,919.40, which was 54.1% of their requested budget of $9,085. This original budget was made to account for the significant costs of running a public pool hall for the student body. “Dozens of hours of research goes into what equipment we request, and management attempts to reduce operating costs by performing many of our repairs in-house,” explained Pool Hall manager Maya Hanser-Young ‘26. 

Although regretful that Pool Hall did not receive more of its budget, Hanser-Young was not surprised by the results.“We have come to expect…around half of our budget to be cut every semester. While we still expect to be able to put on Pool Formal and complete some of the required repairs for this semester on the amount of money received, the budget we received will likely mean that we have to scale back on many of our plans for the space this semester,” said Hanser-Young.

The Quest itself emerged successful with 91.3% of their requested funding, getting $5,773.85 of an original budget of $6,320.43. This was the largest percentage allocated for any Top 6 club this semester. “I feel pretty good about the amount of money we got versus the amount that we requested,” said Queditor Madeleine Voth ‘25. Voth credited the Quest’s success to their planning, explaining, “I think it was because we spent a lot of time thinking about what we actually needed in our budget and requesting accordingly.”

Notably, Beer Nation (#20) requested $27,648, of which Senate granted $6,070. This was the largest amount requested by any club in the Top 40. Even with only 21.9% of their original budget approved, Beer Nation still claimed the third-largest funding allocation. 

Beer Nation cited the need for funding for beer gardens and Spring/Fall champagne to explain the sizable budget. “The reason for requesting a higher amount was to prevent running on a super tight budget, especially since we won’t know the exact cost of the brews and catering until the event comes around. More than that though, the additional money would allow us to boost student engagement further by increasing the scale, variety, and frequency of the events BN throws,” reported Beer Nation signators Kiana Fields ‘25 and Amanda Heaslip ‘25.

Beer Nation expressed disappointment with the budget they received. “Our frustrations come from the fact that we had high aspirations this semester, and we hope to be able to continue this conversation with [T]reasury,” stated Fields and Heaslip.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Giant Worm (#14) successfully gained 100% of their whopping $67.49 requested budget. “We’re super thankful that the community was willing to upvote us and support our shows,” said Max Opitz ‘25 of Giant Worm. With these funds, readers can also expect a steady stream of Capri Suns for the semester ahead. “We’ll hopefully be able to provide a hearty wealth of juice boxes for all who come to our shows,” added Opitz.

Another success story for a smaller club came from N8v’s @ Reed (#15), which got 100% of their $920.24 budget approved. Signator Jordan Hubbard reported being “extremely surprised and happy” with these results, which will enable the club to fund events, including plans to open up more events to the whole student body. 

Although some clubs may have fared better than others in Funding Circus, all emerged hopeful and ready for the semester ahead across the board. In the coming months, Reedies can expect to see the clubs they voted for making good on their Top 6 campaign promises and putting their hard-earned budgets to use.