Glen Parker, 3L
Executive Editor
The SBA has over $100,000 to spend on events and general student desires and whims. Last year’s SBA saw over $50,000 of dollars in surplus money, i.e., money that was allocated to student groups, but otherwise left unspent. A large part of that money has been given to this year’s student groups. It is not uncommon for these groups to have money left over at the end of the year, only to be given to next year’s groups.
This money is the students’ right, and all students should feel entitled to request money for events and programming they’d like to have happen. In fact, it is recommended by Nicholas Katz, 2L, SBA Tresurer, that students consider the charts on this page as an invitation to plan events.
If you have something in mind, you don’t have to wait for someone else to invite a speaker or screen a movie or discuss a topic that you’d like to see at Cardozo. Once you have an idea, you can make things happen in just a few simple steps.
1. Get Support.
Talk to others about the event or activity you’d like to go down. If you want the event to happen at school, you’ll need a student group to “sponsor” (i.e., endorse) the idea so you can reserve the appropriate space you need (step 2). If you want food, student groups can also help fund any catering you might need (step 4). Student groups are also helpful when it comes time to advertise your activity (step 5).
2. Get Space.
With the help of a sponsoring student group, you can reserve a location in the building. Most rooms, including the Moot Court Room and Student Lounge, are reservable. Just email Erin Handler, Special Events Coordinator, with the date and time, desired location, and the name of the sponsoring student group. ehandler@yu.edu. Alternatively, you can fill out at handy room reservation form and submit it online at:
www.cardozo.yu.edu/specialevents.aspx
3. Get Tech.
Do you need microphones? Doing a PowerPoint presentation? Showing a movie? If your event needs any audio/visual support, email Dean Wishart with your request at lawref@yu.edu.
4. Get Food.
Studies have shown a correlation between the amount of food at a given event and the size of its attendance. This number is exponential when alcohol is in the equation. The easiest way to cater your event is to order food from Jamie Carnes. She can hook you up with anything from pizza to wine and cheese. Email her at carnes@yu.edu.
Another way to get food is to buy it yourself and get reimbursed for it through your sponsoring student group. Just make sure you get approval first, and make sure the food is kosher. Catering guidelines are available on the special events page of the Cardozo website.
5. Advertise.
There are many bulletin boards around campus that you can use to post flyers. You can also advertise in the Cardozo Jurist for free, or just have your event listed in the calendar (cardozojurist@gmail.com). Have your sponsoring student group send the word out to their members via email or however they like to contact members. You can also have a student group send out a campus wide email through Angel. To do this, email Erin Handler (ehandler@yu.edu) with the message you’d like to send, and she’ll send it.
You can do steps two through five all at once, and find general information about event planning at Cardozo at:
http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/specialevents.aspx.