Duke Student Government discussed the approval of a new student group and requests for funding at its meeting Wednesday.
Juniors Betty Liu and Sabrina Hamilton-Payne, campus correspondents for the web magazine Her Campus, represented Her Campus Duke in an effort to gain recognition as an official student group. They said they wanted status as an official group in order to reserve meeting rooms, recruit and publicize, adding that they are not primarily interested in funding options.
Her Campus is a national online magazine for college women specialized to each college. It addresses a variety of topics including on-campus news, style, relationships and anything else that might be of interest to college women.
“Her Campus is to instill confidence and inspire the population of Duke women,” Liu said.
Some DSG members raised concerns about whether some of the aspects of the website were appropriate for an official student group.
Junior Brandon Putnam, senator for athletics, services and the environment, said further research needs to be done on the presence of third-party advertising on the site.
Executive Vice President Gurdane Bhutani, a junior, said DSG usually does not instruct a group to change what it does.
The Senate approved Her Campus Duke by a vote of 18 to 5, overturning the Student Organization Finance Committee’s decision to not recognize the online magazine.
In other business:
Senior Jordan Regenie, president of the Recreation and Physical Education Leadership Council, requested that DSG financially support the council’s installment of new $19,000 fluid-resistant furniture in Wilson Recreation Center.
Regenie did not ask for a specific amount of money but rather said he would accept whatever amount DSG would be willing to provide. The money from DSG would replenish the council’s funds for other projects such as a potential revamping of spaces in Brodie Recreation Center.
“We’d like to make recreation a part of your lives and not just something you do to stay in shape,” Regenie said. “Work smart, play well and help us out.”
Once the council sends DSG its budget, the Senate will allocate appropriate funds at a future date.
A rough draft of the Approval/Removal Committee bylaw was read for the first time as a formality. The bylaw addresses how student groups maintain residential privileges on campus.
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