While scrolling through my Twitter timeline, I couldn’t help but notice the tweets of some disgruntled students regarding the “irresponsible” use of their A&S fees. But was the CASUCS Clay EP really an irresponsible use of funds?
CASUCS (pronounced CA-SHUS) is an idea/ initiative and a platform for SGA to take action. It is an acronym that stands for “Cultural Awareness, Social Unity, Community Service.” These are the things the group feels are a necessity to the “ideal” college experience. The CASUCS Group are the students behind this initiative who help organizations around campus collaborate with the help of the SGA and put actual plans into action. Prior CASUCS Group projects include the “ReThink Black:” seminar series (College, Money, Love/Relationships, Politics), the 1st Annual Old Gold Bowl (Alphas vs. Ques), a three-day Voters Registration Drive, Campus Beautification (Royal Court & The Help) and Support Black Business Week (AKPsi, Alpha Phi Alpha, SGA). CASUCS is all about bringing like-minded students together to create an end product greater than the sum of the parts.
The CASUCS Clay EP was the latest project undertaken by the group. It is a collaborative mixtape featuring some of the biggest up-and-coming artists, poets, musicians and even comedians at FAMU. The EP promotes positivity and social unity through original music in a time where the university is missing a piece of its soul, The Marching “100.”
The CASUCS Clay EP project isn’t just about promoting musical artists, but designers, photographers, and videographers as well. This project gave 60+ students a chance to build their portfolios and showcase their talent.
No Student Government funds were used to make the project, only to promote in the form of T-Shirts (very dope T-Shirts, might I add), and CASUCS has not profited a sing le dime from it. Everything was free.
If money is really your issue, let’s do the math. 60 students x $10.50/ credit hour x 15 credit hours = $9,450. The billboard was free, and $2,500 was spent on shirts. I apologize if you did not receive a shirt, but no SGA project has ever sponsored 14,000 T-shirts. A&S fees are spent all the time on conferences and programs that not only benefit a limited number of students, but that many don’t even get the chance to see. You saw the CASUCS Clay EP, even if you didn’t bother to support your peers and give it a listen. Did your A&S fees go towards the CASUCS Clay EP?
Yes, they did. Was it an irresponsible use of SGA discretionary funds? You decide. As SGA moves forward, I would encourage more outside-the-box thinking.