Tables with golden coverings and gold, red, orange and purple balloons filled two sides of the room, which had a DJ and a dance floor in its center. Autumn decorations lined the walls.
The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, or NSCS, held its annual Autumn Ecstasy event last Friday at the GLS/HDV center. The Phi Chi Epsilon fraternity co-sponsored and provided a DJ. Project Sunshine, SBU UNICEF, SBU Oxfam and the Kaplan test preparation program provided raffle prizes.
Part of the funding for Autumn Ecstasy came from a weekend life grant, which is funded by the $50,000 dollar grant from New York State, according to Christine Noonan, the chair of the Weekend Life Grant Committee and the evening and weekend program adviser. She was not sure which state entity provided the money.
“$10,000 goes to weekend life through student activities,” Noonan said. “$40,000 is distributed to be applied for.”
As of right now, there is still enough money in the yearly allocation for the weekend life grant committee to continue funding events next semester.
The grant will not fund entire programs. The NSCS used the weekend life grant to pay for the food at the event while using its own funds to pay for dessert and decorations.
“If they like to give it to us, it’s a great tool to use,” Hafou Toure, a junior applied mathematics and statistics and business management double major, said. Toure is the vice president of the NCSC and worked with the Weekend Life Grant Committee for funding.
The Weekend Life Grant Committee consists of representatives from the undergraduate student government, campus residences, campus recreation, students involved in Greek life, international students and out-of-state students, who are highly represented in its ranks.
To request a weekend life grant, a group goes to Stony Brook’s student activities page and finds the link to the application. After submitting the application, Noonan receives an email and then sends the application to her committee. The committee makes a final decision at its meetings, and Noonan notifies the group requesting the grant what parts were approved or denied.
Once a group signs on to receive partial funding, it also adds a “Weekend Life” logo to its flier, which goes onto the SBU Listserv.
“It’s a way to get our organization out there,” Toure said. She noted that a majority of students at the events were NSCS chapter members. Some were members of Phi Chi Epsilon, which co-sponsored the event, while others were here with their groups, who supplied raffle prizes.
The weekend life grant has also helped subsidize Campus Recreation’s whitewater rafting trip, the Tabler hall council and RA’s Quinceanera, the Women’s Lacrosse Club’s national lacrosse tournament on SBU’s campus, Poverty Has Tears’ Hurricane Sandy benefit concert and more.
Noonan recommends that campus leaders or organizations looking to obtain a weekend life grant should speak to their staff adviser to completely flesh out the details of their event. Requesters are more likely to receive a grant based on the amount of information they provide. Before the Weekend Life Grant Committee will even consider providing funding, programmers must have a space reserved.
She also said that groups do not need to wait until a month before their event to request funding. “If you have an event in May, apply now,” Noonan said. “Members from my committee will vote over things over the winter as well.”
