UNC’s Muslim Student Association appeared before Student Congress Tuesday, along with four other student groups, to request funding for the spring semester.
The Muslim Student Association asked for $7,026 to be retroactively funded for their largest fundraiser, Sportsfest, which benefited the secondary education of Muslim girls in Tanzania. The group’s representative said the group is requesting the funds, despite having the money saved to cover the Sportsfest expense, because they are hoping to save enough for their own chaplain.
Khadiga Konsouh, a sophomore and MSA community service chair, said in a previous interview with The Daily Tar Heel that MSA shares a chaplain with Duke University and North Carolina State University.
The other groups requesting funds were the UNC Dance Team, Hispanic/Latino Law Students’ Association, Carolina Association for Future Magazine Editors and anarchist group the UNControllables.
Each of the groups had to send representatives to full congress after failing to receiving unanimous approval in the finance committee and all groups were granted their requests Tuesday.
The 30-year-old UNC Dance Team, which is funded by the athletic department but does not receive money to attend a national competition, requested funding for the first time this year.
“We commit around 15 hours to our rehearsals and work outs, and this doesn’t include games and fundraisers,” said team member Hailey Salito. “The biggest thing we are here for is funding for our national competition.”
Salito said the 22 members have to each pay about $600 each for costumes and other dance-related expenses. The group’s request of $12,838 was approved to send the team to a national dance competition.
