E-Board caps off semester granting starter budget to Club Softball

The Executive Board held its final business meeting of the year last Thursday. In contrast to the prior two meetings, the E-Board did not have issues reaching quorum as the Senate appointed 17 new voting members to the E-Board the night before.

RPI Club Softball, which gained recognition in February, requested a starter budget of $219.96 to purchase four helmets. Starter budgets, which can be obtained two months after a club has been recognized, are not usually approved this late into the semester. Vice President for Board Operations Jake Herman ’23 stated that if a club received a starter budget late in the semester, it is unlikely that the money would be spent by the end of the semester. However, since five members of Club Softball will be meeting during the summer and stated that they would immediately spend the money if approved, an exception was made. The motion to approve the budget was passed 13-0-1.

UPAC General sought approval to use the Union’s McNeil Room to host Field Day. The event, held on Sunday, April 23, was originally scheduled to be on the ’86 Field but was moved indoors for inclement weather. The E-Board approved the request unanimously.

In a similar vein, UPAC Comedy followed up by requesting an extension for their McNeil Room usage for a comedy show on Wednesday, April 26. The extension would allow UPAC Comedy to use the McNeil Room from 3:30 pm to midnight. UPAC Comedy had already received permission from the E-Board in a prior meeting to use the room from 5 pm to midnight, but needed more time to set up. The request was approved unanimously.

RPI Dance Dance Revolution went on to ask for a $75 subsidy to fund an end-of-year celebration to a Round 1 Arcade. The subsidy would split the cost of gas evenly between the Union and the club. A travel budget is normally included in the club’s annual budget, but the club needed to make emergency purchases to fix broken equipment. The subsidy was approved unanimously.

RPI Ski Team followed up by also asking for a subsidy. The $3,750 subsidy would help reduce the per-person costs of the team’s trip to the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard National Championship in Mammoth Mountain, CA. The team had already attended the competition, held from March 6-11, when they submitted the request. They also created a GoFundMe page to raise funds to cover travel expenses. The subsidy is inline with the new policy of the Union subsidizing $125 per-person per day if a nationals trip costs more than $200 per-person per day. The E-Board approved the subsidy unanimously.

After the proposals, President of the Union Ava Gallagher ’23G nullified all officer appointments made by her predecessor, Colleen Corrigan ’23G. Gallagher then nominated six people to fill some of the vacancies.

All six of the nominations were each confirmed by the E-Board unanimously. Vice President for Board Operations Jake Herman ’23 was reappointed to his position. Former Vice President of Rules and Special Projects Abigail Golden ’24 was appointed as Vice President for Club Relations. Catherine Philipps ’24 was appointed as Club Operations Committee Chairperson. Colette Minor ’26 was appointed as Student Government Communications Committee Chairperson. Julie Buckley ’25 was appointed as Union Programming & Activities Committee Chairperson. Lastly, Sanay Tralshawala ’26 was appointed as Marketing & Strategy Committee Chairperson.

This Executive Board meeting was held on April 20. The next E-Board meeting, an introductory gathering for new members, is Thursday, April 27 at 7 pm in the Shellnut Gallery.