Student Activites has suspended the College Democrats for failing to appropriately account for and deal with club funds. The treasurer, who resigned last night, failed to deposit money from club fundraisers into the organization's account with Student Activities, instead keeping the money in a safe in his dorm room.
The club is suspended until further notice by Student Activities. To show that they are a serious club, executive board members will be attending two workshops. None of the club's first semester allocations from the AU Club Council were spent because Scott Wener made no deposits or withdrawals to the club's account in Student Activities. The club will not receive the $1,750 it should have received for second semester because there are no records that the club raised the required percentage of its budget.
Enough cannot be said about the stupidity of the treasurer's actions. Keeping large amounts of cash in a dorm room is just inviting theft. Putting the funds that members worked hard to raise in jeopady is irreponsible and disrespectful to those who worked hard to earn them.
Although the financial system in Student Activities can be a bureaucratic headache, dealing with finances in the real world isn't any easier. If the adviser who does all the accounting at Student Activities acted similarly, he would not only be fired but have trouble ever finding work as an accountant again.
As tempting as it is to blame the whole mess on treasurer Scott Wener, other parties are to blame as well. Wasn't anyone on the Dems' executive board suspicious when they were handed cash immediately after turning in receipts for reimbursements? Shouldn't last semester's president, Claire Allenson, have been suspicious when Wener never asked for her signature, which is required to process nearly every club financial form in Student Activities? Executive boards exist to maintain accountability of all officers.
Wener doesn't appear to have been up to foul play (he maintains he didn't spend club funds for personal use and even paid money out of his own pocket in an attempt to rectify the situation), but it was the right thing to resign. Though the club is under new presidential leadership this semester, members would understandably be unwilling to trust Wener's monetary leadership for another semester.
