The SGA approved S.O.L.O. funding to three organizations at Tuesday night’s meeting.
The Student Organizations Life Opportunity Fund (S.O.L.O.) is in place to provide money to student organizations on campus and to fund one major campus event each semester, according to the SGA website.
The first organization to request funding at Tuesday’s meeting was Relay for Life of TTU. Relay for Life of TTU was approved $2,289.80 to purchase cancer awareness giveaway items. The money will go toward purchasing items such as koozies, small bottles of sunscreen, frisbees and more.
Andrew Ferry, the green chemistry chair of American Chemical Society, was at the meeting to ask for funding on behalf of the American Chemical Society. The organization was approved $1,746.19 to purchase re-usable water bottles to distribute to students in honor of Earth Day.
“Last year that was the first year we did this, and we ran out really quick. It was raining and we gave out all of the bottles we had in 30 minutes,” Ferry said.
The bottles will be similar to the green bottles with the recycling logo distributed last year. This year’s bottles, however, will have the ACS logo on them and will also include a directory informing students of the various water refill locations on campus.
The S.O.L.O. funding will enable ACS to purchase 1,000 bottles to give to students.
ACS student chapters are organizations for undergraduate chemical science majors. According to the ACS website, ACS is the largest organization in the world dedicated to a single discipline.
“We love being a part of the whole green shift of campus and sustainability,” Ferry said. “We love being a part of Tech and getting out there and promoting green chemistry and being green and recycling.”
The bottles will be distributed the Tuesday, April 21, and on Earth Day, April 22, at various locations on campus.
Randy Lunsford, events coordinator for Lambda Gay-Straight Alliance, and Doug Burgess, Lambda Gay-Straight Alliance vice president, were also at the meeting to request funding for Lambda’s Second Chance Prom. SGA approved Lambda’s request for $1,930.
Lambda Gay-Straight Alliance is Tech’s only LGBT organization. According to the Lambda Gay-Straight Alliance website, Lambda exists to provide support to members of the LGBT community at Tennessee Tech University.
“Second Chance Prom is a chance for students, faculty and staff to get to go to prom again,” Lunsford said.
“For our organization specifically, a lot of students and members haven’t had the chance (to go to prom) because they couldn’t go with the date they wanted to because they may have been of the same sex, and a lot of them felt bullied out of it or weren’t able to wear the clothes they wanted to,” Lunsford said. “So it’s a second chance to do it comfortably the way they should have gotten to.”
The idea of Second Chance Prom is nothing new on Tech’s campus.
“This is the fourth annual Second Chance Prom,” said Burgess.
Second Chance Prom will be held March 22 in the Tech Pride Room in Roaden University Center. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and end at 10 p.m.
“We want anybody and everybody to come,” said Lunsford. “There is free food. Every bit of it is free because S.O.L.O. is funding it.”
SGA meetings are open to all students and are every Tuesday at 9:15 p.m. in the Tech Pride Room.
