The Student Association filed charges on Monday with its judicial body, accusing the Office of Greek Life and Experiential Learning of violating SA regulations by spending a portion of the Student Activity Fee without proper authorization.

OGLEL spent money from the Greek Unity Fest Committee’s account within SA’s accounting system but without authorization from Comptroller Erin Maghran, according to the charges filed by the Finance Board. OGLEL also failed to display the words “your Student Activity Fee” on advertising for the Greek Unity Fest, the charges state.

Although the Assembly and Finance Board approved the overall expenditure for the Greek Unity Fest, money was spent on several things, such as prizes and color printing, that cannot be paid for with the fee, said Maghran, a junior public relations, policy studies and political science major. Maghran said it is important that SA procedure is followed in disbursing Student Activity Fee money, since the fee is the only funding completely controlled by students.

“Its not just a stupid procedure thing,” Maghran said. “It’s the attitude of (OGLEL) that this is their money.”

OGLEL staff could not be reached for comment about the incident.

Maghran said that she will investigate today whether illegal expenditures were made. The total amount withdrawn from the account was about $70,000, said SA President Andrew Thomson.

If the Judicial Review Board finds OGLEL guilty of the charges, it will not have any power to punish OGLEL in any way. The charges are instead being used to send a message that the SA is not “just a bunch of students,” said Assistant Parliamentarian Andrew Lederman, a freshman international relations and history major.

Thomson said that even if the JRB had the authority to take punitive action against OGLEL, SA would not be interested in pursuing it. Thomson attributed the incident to a troubled relationship between SA and the new office. OGLEL is in its first year of operation, taking over the duties of both the former Office of Greek Life and Office of Student Activities.

“What we’re seeing is a new office trying to figure out what its role is and pushing too far into what the students have control over,” Thomson said.

The SA’s Organization Voice Committee will make OGLEL the main topic of its next meeting, giving students a chance to voice their concerns about the office, Thomson said.

Published on April 23, 2003 at 12:00 pm