By Sarah Mcsparin

After three hours of deliberation at last Tuesday’s Student Government Association meeting, the Senate passed a resolution to allocate $10,000 to the Association of Black Students for the 2007-08 school year.

After this year, funds for all University of Louisville diversity groups will come from a new “Diversity Fund,” comprised of a combination of several groups’ funds.

The African-American Programming Fund provided money to U of L’s African-American groups, but was left out of the originally proposed 2007-08 SGA budget in preparation for the Diversity Fund.

Due to strong opposition from members of ABS, the fund was never initiated and the budget remained unapproved.

According to SGA President Brian Hoffman, some members of ABS contained Senators in the meeting room and denied them exit after an amendment, which would dissolve the Diversity Fund into two separate funds, was rejected.

Hoffman, then Executive Vice President, said the reaction of the students forced him to re-evaluate the budget and gauge what would be a more appropriate solution. “We are going to find them a secure source to support them until they can raise their own money,” he said.

Combining the money from the African American and International Student Programming Fund, the Diversity Fund was created in an attempt to allow equal distribution of money to various diverse groups on campus.

“I think this puts ABS and SGA on the right path,” SGA-ABS liaison OJ Oleka, a junior marketing major, said. “Of course, ABS would have liked it to last a few more years or have had more time, but it’s one of the better choices.”

Tuesday’s compromise was reached after several meetings over the summer.

“It was just a demonstration of what the fund means to African-American students on campus,” Oleka said.

Despite the opposition from ABS, Hoffman said the new Diversity Fund better incorporates the needs of all diverse organizations.

“Under our current policies, diversity is not inclusive,” Hoffman, a senior political science and economics major, said. “Our budget only addresses two groups.”

While the resolution to keep the African American Programming Fund for an additional year was unanimously passed, some senators felt that the ABS funding should be prolonged for a few more years.

“The new resolution will put pressure on the Association of Black Students to spend this year in search of future funding,” Arts and Sciences Senator Andrew Murphy, a junior political science major, said. “It might limit programming due to a concern about future funds.”

Murphy drafted a resolution that would guarantee ABS funding until the 2011-12 academic year, but the idea was rejected after 29 senators voted in opposition at the meeting.

“I feel like we have the responsibility to take care of this issue this year and not pass it on,” Hoffman said.

Although the debate over the funding has caused tension between SGA and ABS, Hoffman and Oleka both agree that the situation has increased communication between the groups.

“It was a necessary evil,” Oleka said. “Now because of it, SGA and ABS are working toward a better relationship.”