Students will pay $1,409 in general fees during the 2024-25 academic school year. After covering costs like subscriptions to student publications and admission to athletic events, whatever is left goes to the Student Federation.

This funding gives the Fed a budget of more than $40,000 to work with every year, and clubs should start taking better advantage of it. Of the dozens of student organizations on campus, only a fraction come asking for funding on a yearly basis, according to junior and Student Federation President Jacob Beckwith. 

That leaves a lot of money just waiting to be put to good use — money that other students will use if we don’t.

These thousands of idle dollars are a problem if stewardship plays the essential role in self-government the college claims it does. While a bad investment wastes student fees, so does the failure to invest at all.

But the Fed can only invest in the events and ideas that student groups and clubs present to them.

If it’s a matter of ignorance, then reach out, ask questions, and learn about the process. Those who care enough about the organization to hold seats as representatives will probably be more than happy to discuss what kind of requests to submit and how to submit them.

Meetings are every other Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Formal Lounge. The next one is a week from today. 

Not everything demands a trip to the Fed for funding, but good ideas that would improve campus life and culture should not be pushed aside while the money meant to cover them sits in a bank account.