At its March 31 meeting, Student Federation will reconsider its approval of $781 for the Investment Club to travel to New York City.
The club found out it will receive full funding for the trip from Morgan Stanley after Student Fed approved partial funding last Thursday. Because Student Fed funds are granted on a partial-payback basis, Student Fed President junior Christian Wiese said the organization no longer sees the club’s need for the funds.
“Because they came back and let us know that they got full funding for the trip, we will reconsider their request for website funding at the next meeting,” Wiese said.
The Investment Club initially requested $2,500 during the Student Fed finance committee meeting on Monday, March 7. Club representatives said the money would sponsor a five-person trip to New York City supervised by Morgan Stanley.
For an hour and a half Thursday, March 10, delegates debated a lowered proposal of $1,511.40, drawing comparisons with funding of the College Republicans’ trip to the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Following the Investment Club’s preliminary proposal to the finance committee on Monday, the committee recommended that Student Fed spend no money on the website, fully fund the cost of the Wall Street Prep program, and apportion $250 — or $50 per person — for the trip.
Between Monday’s pitch to the finance committee and Thursday’s Student Fed meeting, the Investment Club refined its mission statement for the funds and decreased its request by $1,000 by lowering how much it wanted for the website and the trip.
Junior Eddie Shaw, president and co-founder of the Investment Club, consulted Vice President for Finance Patrick Flannery about alternative funding solutions for the trip. Shaw said if this funding came through, as it has since the decision, he would reimburse Student Fed.
During Thursday’s meeting, Independent Rep. sophomore Josh Lee, an Investment Club member, said the committee made its recommendation because the Investment Club came unprepared and failed to justify its proposal.
The debate focused on weighing the benefit of establishing Hillsdale connections with Wall Street at the cost of $1,500 in student fees that would not directly benefit all of campus — usually a requirement for funding approval.
Shaw said the trip participants agreed to each pay $40 for the opportunity to go to the headquarters of some of the biggest banks in the world and develop a pipeline for connections to Wall Street — connections which could become beneficial for students in the business department.
“You look at Hillsdale’s career fair, and they’re bringing in local insurance companies and small Edward Jones,” Shaw said. “We’re not really shooting for the stars with these banks. Hillsdale doesn’t have a connection to Wall Street, and I think this trip has a great way to open up this groundwork.”
During Thursday’s meeting, Sigma Chi Rep. junior Drew Jenkins proposed raising the cost per club member attending from $40 to $130, the same amount 2016 CPAC attendees paid, lowering Student Fed’s grant for the trip by $450.
According to Shaw, Investment Club members decided on $40 because spring break would tighten their personal budgets. Rep. sophomore Michael Lucchese added $40 covers only 10 percent of the total cost per person.
“Right now, there’s a window of opportunity to make the connection, and in following years they’re willing to self-fund this thing,” Lee said. “You don’t know how many students will benefit because we’re willing to give them the opportunity to make the connection.”
Only the hour hand’s movement wore down the heated discussion when the federation — equally split — compromising with $781 toward the trip and fully funding the $500 requested for Wall Street Prep, a financial modelling course that would be made available to all of campus. Student Fed did not fund the $320 for the club’s website, HillsdaleInvestmentClub.com.
Representatives in favor of funding the trip valued the immaterial benefits of future networking, while representatives against funding the trip examined the opportunity cost for channeling funds to campus improvements and proposals that directly benefit a greater part of campus.
Jenkins said those who went to CPAC were not obligated to go to the conferences, unlike the Investment Club members, who would constantly be with Morgan Stanley chaperones.
“I think this will bring great people into Career Services — and even the business department, which we don’t have a connection to right now,” Jenkins said. “Eddie Shaw is right, in all of the Career Services events I’ve gone to, I’ve never seen a connection to a New York bank or anything like that.”
The federation also granted recognition to two clubs at the meeting: the E-Sports Club and the Students for Middle Eastern Discourse Club.
—Vivian Hughbanks contributed to this report