By Kai Peterson

One of MCSG’s primary responsibilities is the allocation of the Student Activity Fee. MCSG has traditionally used this money to fund a variety of activities, events, and improvements on campus. Whether they are reading the Mac Weekly, attending student org events, dancing the night away in Kagin or Winter Ball, testing their luck at BINGO for Books, or enjoying the popcorn in the Student Lounge, students are never far-removed from the Student Activity Fee and its allocation. Last Spring, then-MCSG Vice President Jesse Horwitz ’13 saw a fundamental problem in the allocation of the Student Activity. His central point was that while all students pay the Student Activity Fee, only chartered student organizations had the opportunity to request funding for events that might benefit the campus community. Student orgs certainly play a vital role in campus life at Macalester, but is it fair for other students not to be able to request funding and plan good events? Thus was born the Community Chest, a pot of money overseen by MCSG’s Student Services and Relations Committee (SSRC) that is available for funding requests unattached to orgs. There has been some interest so far this Fall in Community Chest funding, and already the SSRC has approved funding for several ideas including the Little Scots program which pairs together young female athletes with a “Big Sister” athlete here at Mac. I fully expect Little Scots, and all the other requests we have approved and are still reviewing, to add substantially to the Macalester community. In MCSG, we take our role in allocating the Student Activity Fee seriously, and we do our best to make the process as consistent and transparent as possible. The Community Chest was first introduced and passed without a clear set of bylaws to negotiate which projects are eligible for funding. The SSRC has made an effort to clarify the regulations for Community Chest decisions, and at this week’s meeting MCSG approved new bylaws that will expand the Community Chest’s budget and create more transparency in the process. -If you have any ideas for possible uses of the Student Activity Fee, MCSG would love to hear them. Stop by our office, e-mail us at mcsg@mac, or just come find us on campus if you have any questions. If you already have a cool project or event in mind, you can find the Community Chest request form on our website at macalester.edu/mcsg then go to the page for the Student Services and Relations Committee and click on the Community Chest link. Macalester students are full of great ideas, and I hope to hear many of them soon. refresh –>