{"id":517206,"date":"2026-11-03T14:22:12","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/517206\/"},"modified":"2026-11-03T14:22:12","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T14:22:12","slug":"with-sga-frozen-chapman-clubs-navigate-changes-to-student-funding-the-panther-newspaper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/517206\/","title":{"rendered":"With SGA frozen, Chapman clubs navigate changes to student funding \u2014 The Panther Newspaper"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since Chapman University\u2019s Student Government Association (SGA) was frozen on March 16<\/a>, the Student Activity Fee Advisory Committee (SAFAC) has taken over funding allocations<\/a> for campus organizations, raising questions about how the transition is affecting clubs that rely on financial support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SGA was placed on frozen status<\/a> following a controversial election cycle involving disputed results, disqualifications and allegations of university policy violations. The decision prevented SGA from conducting official business, including overseeing the budget.\u00a0<\/p>\n

SGA\u2019s Allocations Committee traditionally managed day-to-day club budgets<\/a>. Although SAFAC has taken over those responsibilities, university officials explain that funding has continued without interruption.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bob Hitchcock, Chapman\u2019s director of strategic communications, responded on behalf of the Student Affairs team and emphasized that students still have access to financial support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cStudent funding continues without interruption,\u201d Hitchcock said. \u201cThe Student Activity Fee Advisory Committee will temporarily administer Student Activity Fee funding for individual students, student organizations and co-sponsorships, ensuring students continue to have access to funding for activities, programs, and educational opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, for members of Chapman\u2019s Speech and Debate Club<\/a>, the transition has raised concerns about communication and whether the funding requirements accommodate the needs of different student organizations.<\/p>\n

Gracie Moe, a senior and vice president of the debate team, said the club is working to establish itself on the California collegiate debate circuit, which requires traveling to tournaments hosted by other universities. These competitions come with expenses that can add up quickly.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur tournament fees are high, and we have school entry fees, and judge entry fees, and we have transportation,\u201d Moe said.<\/p>\n

Moe said the team\u2019s last funding request, submitted for a tournament during the spring semester, was approved shortly before SGA was suspended. Since then, the team has struggled to navigate SAFAC\u2019s application process and communicate with those overseeing funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing is just the lack of communication that we\u2019ve been seeing from SAFAC,\u201d Moe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to Chapman\u2019s student funding webpage<\/a>, organizations must submit funding applications through Panther Connect at least three weeks before an event or planned purchase. Applications submitted after that deadline are automatically denied. Requests also must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Fridays to be reviewed the following week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For the debate team, Moe said meeting the three-week deadline is particularly difficult because tournament applications require the club to determine which students will attend and how they will travel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really hard to nail down people\u2019s schedules three weeks in advance,\u201d Moe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moe explained that the team recently had to withdraw from a planned tournament because it could not meet the application deadline. The team did not submit a funding request for that tournament, meaning the decision was not the result of a rejected application.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond the deadline, Moe said SAFAC\u2019s funding categories have presented another challenge for the team, which needs financial support for individual students competing in multiple competitions throughout the semester.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur club doesn\u2019t really fit into one of the sub-sects because we require specific funding per person, per tournament, and they have it labeled as specific limits on funding per semester,\u201d Moe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chapman\u2019s funding guidelines<\/a> outline separate application processes and eligibility requirements for student organizations, conference sponsorships and co-sponsored events. Conference funding, for example, is limited to $750 per student<\/a> per term, regardless of the number of conferences attended.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Although SAFAC has taken on additional responsibilities, Hitchcock explained that the committee was not created in response to SGA\u2019s suspension. Established more than seven years ago, SAFAC includes students, faculty, Student Affairs staff and the vice president and dean of students.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The committee\u2019s purpose is to advise university leadership on student activities and the use of student activity fees, rather than to make final funding decisions independently.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSAFAC serves in an advisory capacity; final decisions regarding funding, fees and other matters remain with the appropriate university leadership and established university processes,\u201d Hitchcock said.<\/p>\n

Despite the committee\u2019s student representation, Moe said she would like to see more direct communication between students and those responsible for funding decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She said a student involved in the funding process recently began helping the team navigate its requests, but she felt the club had received little assistance from SAFAC faculty members.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all coming from faculty that we have little to no contact with,\u201d Moe said.<\/p>\n

When asked what she would like to see changed, Moe emphasized the need for \u201cmore communication and more leniency.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot everything fits in the tight, neat little box that they have created,\u201d Moe said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chapman\u2019s SGA webpage<\/a> states that a university review of the organization remains underway and that SGA will not conduct official organizational business until the process concludes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the meantime, SAFAC continues to administer funding for student organizations, campus departments and individual undergraduate students, according to the university\u2019s student funding webpage<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Hitchcock maintains that student funding has continued uninterrupted, the debate team\u2019s experience highlights the challenges some organizations face in navigating the current system. As SGA remains frozen, the question is not simply whether funding is available, but whether student organizations can access it in ways that meet their needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since Chapman University\u2019s Student Government Association (SGA) was frozen on March 16, the Student Activity Fee Advisory Committee…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517207,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164],"class_list":["post-517206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517206"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517206\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}