Whereas, recent justification for restricting Special Project funding has centered on concerns that the Student Governance Assembly disproportionately funds exclusive or pre-professional organizations,
Whereas, Special Projects Funds have historically been used to benefit “any Cornell registered student organization”,
Whereas, there has been a large amount of concern, contention, and apprehension for the distribution of funds to these organizations within the Student Governance Assembly, particularly over the past two years,
Whereas, a review of the Special Project funding decisions presented to the Student Governance Assembly from 2014-2026 shows that 65% of funded organizations have open membership available to all students,
Whereas, of the 35% of organizations with closed membership, approximately 63% of those organization exists to serve historically marginalized or minority communities,
Whereas, as a result, only 13% of total Special Project funding decisions presented to the Student Governance Assembly during this period went to organizations that both maintain closed membership and do not serve marginalized groups or minority populations,
Whereas, these data points demonstrate that the overwhelming majority of Special Project funding support open-access programming and/or initiatives that benefit historically marginalized students, rather than exclusive pre-professional organizations,
Whereas, restrictions on Special Projects funding based on concerns about exclusivity without proper guardrails risk disproportionately limiting support for organizations whose mission is to serve historically marginalized communities,
Whereas, previous contentions and actions, including that of Resolution, have threatened the capability of these groups to have a wider impact on campus culture while ensuring spaces for minority and marginalized communities,
Be it therefore resolved, the Student Governance Assembly will remain committed to funding organizations that support historically marginalized and minority groups,
Be it further resolved, no rules passed by this assembly, including but not limited to Resolution 43’s contents, shall be construed to prohibit or discourage the approval or disbursement of special project funding to organizations that have a recruitment process strictly for the purposes of serving the mission of supporting marginalized or minority groups,
Be it finally resolved, that the Student Governance Assembly will implement anti-bias safeguards and require respectful, non-discriminatory deliberation in all Special Project Fund decisions impacting marginalized and minority-based organizations
