The new Undergraduate Student Government (USG) budget for the 2025-26 academic year has received mixed reactions from multiple student clubs and organizations due to the fact that some organizations received significant cuts to their budget, while others received major expansions. 

The budget, which is revised every year, shows how much money each club and organization receives from USG. However, this year’s budget has been controversial, as 20 of the 52 existing organizations facing cuts are religious, political or cultural student organizations. 

The Stony Brook College Democrats gave The Statesman their official position in an email, detailing their reaction to the 53% decrease in their budget, from $13,391.18 to $6,240.

“We were initially surprised at the extent of the [budget] decrease,” the email stated. “We acknowledge that our attendance has seen a decrease in this past year, and, as such, we understand the reasoning behind the cuts made. However, it also remains true that losing such a substantial portion of our budget will, undoubtedly, have an impact on the ability for our organization to plan activities and host events in the upcoming year as we ordinarily would.”

The club then explained their efforts to adapt to their new budget. 

“Our executive board has worked actively to redraw our plan for the upcoming year in an efficient and effective way, including by deciding to hold biweekly meetings, expecting an increased reliance on collaborations with other organizations, and applying for grants in order to cover our travel expenses, including for our yearly trip to Washington, D.C.,” Stony Brook College Democrats wrote. 

Maame Obeng, the president of the Black Womyn’s Association (BWA) and a senior majoring in health science, expressed the club’s and her own disappointment toward the decrease in their budget. BWA originally requested $30,135 but only received a total of $13,855, which is a 54% decrease to their budget.

Obeng explained that the budget cut may be an obstacle in the upcoming academic year. 

“The cuts will make it extremely difficult for us to host the kind of programming that brings Black womyn together on this campus,” she wrote. “Financially, we will struggle to cover event costs, guest speakers, travel, and supplies. Iconic events like our fashion show, which has been a staple of our organization for years, are now at risk.”

Frustration over the new budget is not limited to political and cultural clubs — it is also applicable to sports clubs. Although the Ice Hockey Club was allocated $40,000, the maximum amount a club’s budget is capped to, it received significantly less than what it requested.

Lucas Puccia, a member of the Ice Hockey Club and a sophomore majoring in business management, expressed his frustration with the budget cap.

“I thought it was unfair, not just for Ice Hockey [Club] but also for other clubs. Clubs clearly need more than what they’re getting,” Puccia said. “It’s been tough. As a club that operates off campus and requires significant travel, equipment and league fees, we had to really prioritize the money we fundraised on our own and the $40,000 that we received from USG. We have communicated multiple times to USG asking for more support, but they denied [our requests].”

Puccia then outlined several changes he would make to the budget process in order to ease the financial situation for clubs like Ice Hockey as an incoming at-large USG Senator.

“It’s important to advocate for a budgeting model that considers the actual costs of running different types of clubs,” Puccia said. “I’d support a tiered or exception-based system where clubs with higher baseline operational costs can apply for additional funding with proper justification. Transparency and flexibility should be key pillars moving forward.”

On the other hand, the Cat Network received a notable 224% increase, from $2,389.62 to $7,750. Israt Jahan, the president of the Cat Network and a senior majoring in biology, expressed her excitement over their budget increase.

“I was really surprised to see our new USG budget, but so happy to see my work pay off,” Jahan said. “To see that we got over a 200% increase after working hard on the presentation and coordinating everything felt so fulfilling, but also sadly I’ll be graduating and won’t be able to use that budget next year.”

She then described her experience with the budget process.

“I would say compared to previous years, the budget process for [our club] this year was easier,” Jahan said. “I made sure Cat Network followed the given guidelines of budget usage throughout the year, [and] making our presentation and script wasn’t difficult or nerve-wracking since we checked [off] all the boxes USG was looking for.” 

The Jewish Student Association declined to comment beyond stating they are seeking to petition their final budget. 

USG Treasurer Bonnie Wong explained that the previous system for allocating club budgets relied on a percentage-based increase or decrease model. This has now been replaced with a new model that evaluates each club based on its evolving activities and audience.

“In previous years, it was based on an increase or decrease percentage model and starting from this year, it’s based on how much each event costs and the [number of] attendees at each event,” Wong said. “It’s definitely not targeted toward [specific] clubs, it’s based more on the financial side of things.”

Obeng expressed that it was unfair for the USG to change to a new system to evaluate budgets without informing organizations. 

“We intend to keep pushing back by highlighting how long-standing and impactful our organization is, how we’ve successfully used all of our past funding, and how essential our programs are for Black womyn on campus,” she wrote. “We plan to challenge why USG gets to make such sweeping changes without informing or consulting the organizations that are directly affected.”

Since a large number of cultural clubs had their budget cut, she mentioned how she felt that cultural clubs are not viewed as important compared to other types of clubs 

“It sends the message that our cultural events like our long-standing fashion show or Black Solidarity Day are seen as ‘nonessential’ or too expensive, when in reality they are essential to building community and belonging for Black students,” she wrote.

In response to these concerns, Wong explained in an email that the change in the budget evaluation method was made to accommodate a “tighter” budget. 

“This year’s Student Activity Fee income increased due to the enrollment increase, but for next year, we were informed that the first year undergraduate enrollment will decline, especially among international students, which would affect next year’s Student Activity Fee,” Wong wrote. “[This] means we have fewer funds to work with, even as the number of active student organizations grows.”

This comes as Stony Brook University recently welcomed its largest-ever incoming class of first-year students. For the Fall 2024 term, first-year undergraduate enrollment rose by 13%, with 4,042 new students compared to 3,569 in Fall 2023.

Wong also expressed her commitment to addressing the concerns of clubs that feel the budget does not reflect their needs or contributions to campus life.

“I encourage them to meet with us and share their perspective — we are always open to dialogue,” Wong wrote. “We hosted a Treasury Town Hall to encourage this as well. We know every club brings something unique to the campus community and want to support that as best as possible.”