At its meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 15th, the SGA reviewed its hosted events, and highlighted its upcoming events for second semester.
Among those reviewed was the not–so-fruitful rose sale. Devised to bring love and livelihood to the Hopkins community, the freshmen class council launched the rose sale Feb. 13th to 14th, with advertisements and promotions around FFC.
However, due to the lack of participation, the rose sale ended with a deficit; the SGA sold only 2 roses out of the 200 roses they bought. With much of the roses left over, 198 roses were handed out for free to Hopkins community.
That being said SGA evaluated their outcome generously. “I actually think that it turned out [in a] positive way as a good learning experience,” Freshmen council President Merrill Anovick said.
SGA also reviewed the now finalized upcoming event “John Hopkins University presents Wiz Khalifa.” The problem of transportation was resolved with the help of parent funding, which also allowed a good portion of the budget to be allocated to discounting the tickets by 10 dollars. The tickets are planned to go on sale this Friday for $20 each for the first 1500 tickets sold. The rest are planned to be sold at $30 per ticket.
After having settled finalized issues, SGA brought new events to the table.
Among these were the suggestion for a sophomore “halfway to graduation” party and discussion about the Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS),
SGA gave the sophomore class council a go in response to their request for their class-specific party. According to survey done by SGA, the sophomore class had complained that they felt the most left out among all of the classes at Hopkins.
In order to resolve the issue, the sophomore class council suggested an invigorating event. With favorable reactions from other board members, the class council agreed to discuss the issue and structuralize the event further.
The FAS proposal to host Christopher Hitchens was met with resistance, however. Hitchens, a well-known “Anti-theist,” and though a leading intellectual figure, is also a highly controversial individual. Due to the excellent turnout three years ago when he visited Hopkins, an event in which the student body enthusiastically participated, FAS had planned to invite Hitchens back, aiming to fill up Shriver Hall once again. However, budget issues have at least temporarily halted FAS’s plans.
FAS contacted Hitchen’s agent through a line of contact established three years ago, and made a small offer. FAS and the agent reached an agreement which later became contested with one-third of their proportioned budget siphoned to host another controversial speaker Ayaan Hirsi Ali, however, FAS has decided that they would need additional funding from the SGA in order to host Hitchens and SGA was reluctant to agree.
With Treasurer Wyatt Larkin absent to the meeting, many members of SGA expressed worries and doubts about increasing funding for FAS. “We might only have $10,000 to $15,000 left in the contingency,” Senator Nick Trenton said. “I would like to know how much money we have left in contingency before we decide on whether to fund the FAS or not,” he added.
Among those who were also unsure was SGA president Marc Dirzulaitis. “If we don’t use enough money, we are shorting the student body. However, if we use too much money, then we are shortening the future of SGA,” Dirzulaitis said.
Senator Sean Murphy offered a different suggestion. “Do we have to give them $10,000?” Murphy said. “We could just give them $1,000 to show our faith and support and help them out in some other ways,” he said.
Due to Hitchens’s declining health, FAS is hoping for a quick and positive decision from SGA. Diagnosed with esophageal cancer and only 12 months to live, Hitchens doesn’t speak frequently.
Determined to host Hitchens once again, FAS is willing to seek help elsewhere. “We will go with whatever we can find, even though it may not sum up to [an] agreed amount,” FAS Executive Director Issac Jilbert said. “We will make offer with whatever we have, and we will also ask Deans for money,” Jilbert added.
Currently it is uncertain whether or not SGA will grant FAS the funds it needs to host Hitchens.
