Members of the BLOC Party took student government office last spring with the commitment to create 50 new scholarships for students. Now, in the second semester of their term, only two scholarships have been created.
“We had a harder time than we thought, but we are definitely not giving up on our goal,” Student Body President Jake Kirkham said.
Merging the scholarship and development boards together, the current administration created a new program with Eric Barndt as the director. Kirkham said he believes the new program needs to establish credibility before receiving donations.
Barndt resigned his position at the end of Fall Semester to work on Rick Pehrson’s presidential campaign. William Hoang, last year’s associate director, has taken over as scholarship and development director.
“There were a lot of unanticipated roadblocks,” Barndt said. “The U has a whole department that works with scholarships, and part of the trouble was not stepping on other departments’ toes when raising money.” Transitioning between Barndt and Hoang also pushed back fundraising.
Both of the scholarships created last semester were from donations from the Olpin Club, a group of former student body presidents. Barndt said he anticipated getting future money from past Associated Students of the University of Utah leaders.
The scholarship and development board also raised money through in-kind donations for Homecoming events and is fund-raising for the Rock the U dance marathon.
This semester, Hoang plans to raise money through private donations. If private donors give at least $2,000, a scholarship will be created in their name and the donor can request requirements to receive the scholarship.
The board is also planning a golf tournament in May from which all proceeds will go to scholarship funds. Private businesses can sponsor a hole for $1,000 and participants will pay between $150 and $200 to play in the tournament.
Hoang said the next ASUU administration will decide how to spend the money raised from the tournament, but it will potentially be available for incoming freshmen and some continuing students in Spring Semester 2008.
“The key is to follow through,” Hoang said.
Hoang is also looking into expanding the scholarship development committee from the five or six people currently working on it. He plans to recruit people from the Rock the U committee after the dance marathon is over in March.
According to Redbook, the student constitution, student fees given to fund the board cannot be used for scholarships. These funds are instead being used for fund-raising efforts and to plan the golf tournament.
Kirkham said although the administration has not acquired as many scholarships as it had hoped, it is following through with its commitment by educating students on what scholarships are available and how to receive them.
“We are on pace–we may not be on pace with the 50 scholarships, but we are looking to add more in the next few months,” Kirkham said.