The University of Maryland’s campus radio station, WMUC, its student Public Interest Research Group, MaryPIRG, and its crisis center hotline were all allocated less money than requested originally, and if the radio station does not receive more of its request, its service is threatened.
The Student Government Association (SGA) was meeting around 5 p.m. PST to hear from appeals from the three groups that had insufficient allocations.
The issue became larger on Twitter as a number of WMUC supporters mentioned the group’s possible cut and the threat of the other groups receiving allocations instead.
An unconfirmed tweet around 5:50 p.m. PST suggests the radio station may have had more money allocated Wednesday night and will be able to survive in some form.
UPDATES:
The Diamondback tweeted the following Thursday morning at 2:21 a.m. EDT: “The SGA meeting is still in session, eight hours later. They are debating the allocation of funds to the student groups who appealed.”
The issue continues into day three. The SGA executive is currently (Friday, April 22) in an emergency meeting to try to support the radio station after more funding was cut. Radio station supporters started another hashtag today: #supportSGAexecs.
Link(s):
- Diamondback (Campus newspaper at University of Maryland) coverage of the background.
- Twitter chatter (#saveWMUC)
Emerald Copy Chief Kenny Ocker contributed to this report.
Quote from the Diamondback article after the jump.
Although some groups’ fate ultimately lies in legislators’ hands, (WMUC General Manager Mario) Pareja-Lecaros said WMUC has already begun brainstorming creative ways to fundraise if the station isn’t granted more money, and Simmons noted the Group Help Fund as an alternative that would allow the Help Center to scrape by. (SGA Vice President of Financial Affairs Rob) Mutschler said these kinds of actions will likely be carried out by many groups.
“I think we’re well past the days where the SGA can be the sole source of funds for all student groups,” he said. “We can’t fund as much as we could anymore, so student groups are going have to look elsewhere.”
