Student Fed helps bring Austin Petersen to campus

Home Campus Student Fed helps bring Austin Petersen to campus
Student Fed helps bring Austin Petersen to campus
Austin Petersen. Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia
Austin Petersen. Gage Skidmore | Wikimedia

Hillsdale College’s Student Federation unanimously allocated $750 to a libertarian activist club Oct. 6, helping it hold an event featuring former Libertarian Party presidential candidate Austin Petersen.

The amount covers almost half of the costs for Hillsdale’s chapter of the Young Americans for Liberty to bring Petersen to campus on Nov. 17. Student Fed also approved $169.60 to the mental health awareness and advocacy club for refreshments at its Oct. 25 “Behind the Stigma” event on stress and anxiety.

YAL President junior Brendan Noble said he expects Petersen’s speech will attract a large audience.

“He’s a well-known person on campus, so we’re expecting this to be a big event,” Noble said. “He’s going to be looking at a reflection of the election, where we can go in the future, and the current status of liberty in our country.”

Petersen charges a $1,000 speaking fee. His flight and hotel will cost an additional $600. The club requested only $750 because it is trying to raise funds through other avenues.

“We’re not asking for the full cost of him coming because we’re doing a lot of fundraising on our own,” Noble said. “The Young Americans for Liberty national organization is providing a lot of money. Right now they’re saying $600, and we’re going to be doing fundraising to provide the other $250 that would cover the gap between the $750 and the $1,600.”

If Young Americans for Liberty manages to raise more money than it needs, Noble said YAL would return the additional funds to Student Fed.

“You guys will be the first to get your money back,” he said. “We’ll make sure that any extra funding goes back to you guys and you get refunded. I think that’s a crucial thing because we want to make sure we’re not wasting your money.”

The Student Federation Finance Committee recommended full funding of the request.

“The YAL proposal is minimal, given the quality and the stature of the speaker,” Rep. sophomore Ross Hatley said. “YAL is taking all appropriate measures to get a very high quality speaker here for as little cost as possible.”

Lighthouse, the mental health awareness and advocacy club, also received its full requested amount of $169.60 for its event featuring Director of Health Services Brock Lutz, with only one dissenting vote.

About 150-200 people usually attend the “Behind the Stigma” event series, so the total amount breaks down to roughly $1 per person, Lighthouse Treasurer junior Elyse Hutcheson said.

“Our group is so important for helping the people on this campus,” Hutcheson said. “We directly affect students’ mental health and their perception of it and provide a resource for people who are really struggling. It’s definitely something that’s directly helping the student body.”

The federation’s finance committee recommended full funding for Lighthouse’s proposal, Rep. senior Lauren Renslow said.

“It affects every single student that is on this campus,” Renslow said. “Because the funding amount that they’re requesting is so minimal, we can definitely take that on. Though they haven’t sought funding for this event, they have already self-funded the many events that have happened this semester, so we’d like to give them full funding for this one.”

Lighthouse recently sponsored an event on youth suicide that 200 people attended, Hutcheson said. This semester, it has also worked with the Humane Society GOAL program to bring puppies to the Quad to relieve student stress and organized a way for students to write encouraging notes to friends who might be facing difficult situations.

For students who have an interest in making decisions on which groups get funded, Student Federation is holding a meet and greet Thursday at 5 p.m. in the formal lounge to learn more information and how to run for a position.