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SGA adds micro-grants for funding

Oklahoma Christian University’s Student Government Association has added the option for micro-grant funding. This will provide opportunities for growth for smaller clubs and organizations on campus. 

SGA wanted to give these groups a chance to have events, activities and promotions to share their missions and goals. 

SGA activities committee co-chair Braden Wright set up the micro-grant funding system with his co-chair Sarah Gregory. Wright said he was excited to see clubs he had not heard of arise on campus. 

“The SGA Activities Committee decided to start our micro-grants initiative to put money into the hands of clubs and organizations that don’t necessarily have the funds to advertise themselves to the campus and grow in size,” Wright said. “It can be hard to grow awareness for your club, but money is a huge help.”

Various clubs and organizations like the Latin American Student Organization, the Eagles Health Initiative, and BIT club have all applied for micro-grants and been approved. They were able to host events like back to school bashes as well as other informative events. 

Wright said it can be a struggle for people to show up to events, especially when the group is less recognizable. 

“Funding completely diversifies the options for club/organization events and allows for a greater chance to advertise and grow the group,” Wright said. “With greater funding, I believe we would see an increase in recognition of clubs/organizations and more student participation in general.

The micro-grants will give newer organizations the chance to have recognition from the start. 

Senior Julie Pekrul is one of the co-founders of Kaleo Campus Ministry, which started this semester. Pekrul said this opportunity will help reduce the financial burden of starting a new organization or club. 

“This can cause events or activities that may have not happened otherwise,” Pekrul said. “I hope this will be used as a defining moment for when their organization was able to grow and thrive.”

Wright said in the future, he hopes the micro-grants budget will grow if the initiative proves successful. 

“I’m hoping with more money, smaller clubs/organizations can provide greater incentives to show up to events,” Wright said. “I think giving smaller groups the ability to host larger events on campus would be an awesome thing and would greatly enrich campus culture.”

Pekrul said it will be nice to have the essential start-up costs for smaller organizations on campus. 

“This can help give someone or a group the confidence to lead and make a difference on campus,” Pekrul said. “It can bring people on campus together that they would not have met otherwise and feel loved, supported and not alone.”

Not only will the micro-grants provide funds, they will also provide awareness and recognition for the missions and goals of organizations. 

“This provides the opportunity to increase awareness in smaller organizations and provides more representation to the smaller orgs on campus in general,” Pekrul said. “It shows money goes to big and small things on campus.” 

Wright said he looks forward to seeing how the micro-grants improve over time. 

“I want everyone to be able to show their interests or missions to the entire school without any barriers and would love more club or organization recognition to come out of the micro-grant program,” Wright said. 

The applications for micro-grants are open through the end of the semester or until the budget runs out. For questions concerning micro-grants, contact Braden Wright or Sarah Gregory at braden.wright@eagles.oc.edu and sarah.e.gregory@eagles.oc.edu

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