Duke University Union’s new executive board is gearing up for the last events of the year and preparing for next year’s.
At their meeting Tuesday night, the new DUU executive board members met for the first time without the outgoing leaders. They finalized budget allocations for each of the 15 committees Saturday and briefly discussed them Tuesday.
“We are going to provide the opportunity for every committee to put on awesome events,” said Chief Financial Officer Ben Condon, a junior.
He said the total allocation was $684,124. Each committee’s budget was based on what the committee needed for its events and what its budget was last year. The general funding, however, remains unknown until the size of next year’s freshman class is finalized, Condon said. He noted that DUU keeps a general fund of about $20,000 to $30,000 for buffer.
“There were some budget increases and decreases among committees,” Condon said. “We looked at each committee and what its ideas were for next year, and decided accordingly.”
One committee with a decreased budget was the Major Attractions committee, said President Yi Zhang, a junior. The newly formed Innovation committee, which will put on creative and new events, received approximately $15,000.
Zhang explained that Major Attractions plans to hold more events in Page Auditorium, instead of more costly venues like Cameron Indoor Stadium. Major Attractions received a smaller budget because of the decision to use less expensive venues.
Committees with significant budget increases include the Coffeehouse, VisArts and WXDU, Zhang said.
WXDU received a larger budget because the committee plans to hold new concerts for students and the community, said returning WXDU Director Marc Loeffke, a junior.
“We wanted to use the resources within our DJs,” Loeffke said. “They know a lot of local and touring bands, and we really wanted to take advantage of this unique knowledge resource.”
Loeffke declined to comment on the exact budget numbers for this year and next year, but he said the increase was “significant.”
He said one new major event that WXDU will sponsor next year is the “Rock Lotto.” The committee will gather about 60 musicians from the Triangle area and put their names in a hat. Then, four names drawn out of the hat will form a band and have six weeks to practice. The band will play at a concert after practicing for the given time period, Loeffke said.
“I am really excited for next year,” he said. “With a higher budget, we are going to have more and better events that are open to everyone.”
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