The SAB’s poor budgeting and lackluster expenditures dampen the student experience.
The Student Activities Board leaves much to be desired as the events this semester have ranged from mediocre to falling flat on their face. This year, SAB had the potential to be great and started off strong with an impactful Welcome Week and a visit from the renowned Dr. Waka Flocka Flame. This was followed by the hit Sip ‘n Slide that left no one’s immune system untouched.
With a great first month of events, SAB was poised to be a stalwart of fun and camaraderie on campus. Then, things started to get a little wonky as SAB began to experiment with apartment events and tailgates that saw less and less students turn out. A homecoming week that will only be remembered for the targeted vandalism at the street painting followed quickly behind. SAB made a host of lavish expenditures, spending more than $100,000 dollars for a single event during Welcome Week. Now, SAB cannot meet the high bar it set for itself, as their events this semester have been lackluster. 
The past week displayed the consequences of their poor financial planning, as SAB could not afford to support the campus classic Taste of the John. Due to their lack of proper planning, SAB left close to 100 students hungry and disappointed. However the people who were able to get a plate at the iconic event were elated to have a diverse culinary experience.
Taste of the John was a disaster brewing since October. When I first approached Eric Flores to discuss planning for the event, the director of SAB immediately deferred the event to the spring semester. Then, when asked about the event a second time in the spring, Flores agreed to meet with the Residence Hall Association, John Mabee Hall Government and the Association of Black Collegians to discuss how SAB could help make Taste of the John happen.
At this meeting of minds, SAB was presented with the historical fact that Taste of the John has been an event hosted by Flores’ team as a staple Hurricane Thursday. In years past, Eric’s team had purchased $3,000 worth of food for the event and had $1,000 in contributions from the John Mabee Hall government. The collaboration of groups expected this year to be no different as the event has always been a huge success among the student body. So, SAB’s decision to provide no funding for the event on the basis of not funding purely food-based events came as a shock to all in the room. This decision also begs the question of what is the ever-present food truck Friday if not a purely food-based event?
Yet, the organizations decided to continue without the support of SAB in making a campus-wide event with a dorm-sized budget. As a result, Taste of the John ran out of food within the first 30 minutes of the event and dozens of students left disappointed.
Considering the large expenditures of the past semester, there is a present issue of financial mismanagement among SAB as they cannot fund events the student body actually engages with.
