Federation mace, which will measure 36″ with a 3″ brass medallion bearing the federation seal.
Courtesy | Brandt Siegfried
The Student Federation used $4,541 of its surplus budget on Dec. 3, 2020 to buy a ceremonial mace — which is a highly ornamented staff, much like a scepter — to be carried in at the beginning of each student federation meeting.
According to Student Federation President Brandt Siegfried, every legislative body in the world, and almost every American college, has a ceremonial mace. During convocation, Registrar Douglas McArthur carries the official Hillsdale College mace, symbolizing the college’s authority to grant degrees.
“Not a single student actually paid anything for this mace,” Student Federation Vice President Thomas MacPhee said.
Fees from current students did not fund the mace, but were part of unused funds from previous years.
Ashlyn Neveau, director of student activities, said the federation always builds an emergency fund of about $5,000 into their budget. This emergency money and unused discretionary funds build up over time.
In August 2019, the business office informed the federation that the emergency fund account had been left unchecked for more than five years: the federation account had a surplus of $109,000.
Siegfried said the federation established a special committee to decide what to do with the money. Over the course of three semesters, the committee considered ideas such as dividing the surplus funding among clubs or separating the money into four sections and phasing the funding into the federation.
Siegfried said the federation moved slowly in considering what to do with the money, and wanted a coherent plan to address all the money at one time.
“The federation was very convinced that it was an injustice to all the students who have come before us that they paid student fees that were not spent on things during their time here,” Siegfried said. “We thought that the most just thing to do with those dollars would be to spend them on the things which would live into the future for a very long time. As long as the college exists, the Student Federation is going to have this endowment income that benefits every class.”
The final decision was to establish an endowment with an annual interest rate of 5%. Siegfried said that the interest will add $2,500 to the federation’s budget each semester.
“With the other ideas, that money would have been gone. The federation gets to keep it this way, but then also gets a little bit every year,” Siegfried said. “Essentially this dollar continues paying out money to the federation for the future.”
The federation put $100,000 of the $109,000 surplus into the endowment, earmarking the remaining $9,000 for a legacy gift for the college.
Neveau said the administrative team approved of the endowment fund.
“It’s a unique idea that really mimics what we do here at the college,” Neveau said.
“We wanted a gift with long term impact and institutional value, and that’s where the idea of the mace was conceived,” Siegfried said.
Siegfried said purchasing a mace symbolizes the self-governance of the student body through the federation.
“It’s not like food that people eat and they appreciate it, but they forget about it next week,” Siegfried said. “I’m convinced that students 200 years in the future are going to look back and say ‘thank you,’ because it’s something that people can see and tangibly hold and say, ‘this represents something important.’”
MacPhee said the federation voted to purchase the mace during the last December meeting of the 2020 fall semester. Manufactured in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the mace will arrive in the coming weeks.
The mace will be carried in at the beginning of every student federation meeting by the sergeant at arms, Zach Weaver.
After the purchase of the mace, the federation still has about $4,500 in surplus funds it can use for legacy gifts, Siegfried said. The federation receives 10% of student fees each year for discretionary spending, but none of this money was used for the mace.
“We get money that is derived from student fees, and so it’s our duty to spend all of those dollars,” Siegfried said. “We still have a duty to make sure those dollars are spent wisely, and in accord with students values.”
The federation encourages students to voice their opinions at federation meetings or in conversations with their representatives. There is an opportunity for public comment at every student federation meeting, but there are seldom participants, Siegfried said. The next meeting will be Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. in the Formal Lounge.
“There are important questions that the Student Federation answers, and they impact the quality of student life,” Siegfried said. “I think students should be engaged with the Student Federation the way they are with every other level of government.”