Cleveland State senior Alison Bomgardner led a rally outside the Student Center on Tuesday aimed at raising awareness about ongoing concerns some student organizations have with the Center for Campus Engagement (CCE), including problems with funding.

According to Bomgardner, WCSB general manager, the demonstration was sparked by months of inconsistent communication and lack of transparency from the CCE, which oversees student organizations at Cleveland State.

The CCE supports all recognized CSU student organizations and advises the General Fee Advisory Committee (GFAC) on financial decisions. The GFAC is responsible for the distribution of student leadership scholarships and the allocation of funding to student organizations. 
 

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“Over these past eight months, we’ve tried countless meetings and countless initiatives to try and interact with them in a more formal capacity,” Bomgardner said. “Unfortunately, the catalyst for this was that those meetings didn't lead anywhere.”

WCSB, CSU’s student-run radio station, is one of many organizations seeing delays in receiving student leadership scholarships and operational funding, issues that Bomgardner says are directly impacting daily operations.

After many failed attempts to get answers regarding WCSB funding, Bomgardner chose to take initiative and organize a public demonstration to air grievances felt by not only WCSB, but various other student organizations. 

The lack of resources, she explained, is hindering the station’s ability to carry out basic functions and community outreach.

“It’s apparent when we're starting new initiatives and we're trying to improve our student and community outreach – like having T-shirts, getting better cameras and getting new microphones so we sound more professional,” Bomgardner said. “We can't function without these items and we aren't seeing these items be ordered.”

While WCSB continues to serve both the CSU campus and the broader Northeast Ohio community, the incentive of community connection is not enough to sustain the 24-hour production of the radio station, Bomgardner said.

The rally marked a growing frustration among student leaders, who, like Bomgardner, say administrative roadblocks are slowing progress and silencing student voices. 
 

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Oliver Boyette, a voice performance major and member of the CSU Choirs, attended the rally and shared similar concerns as Bomgardner's.

Boyette described their own experience with delays and administrative hurdles during their hiring process as a stage manager in the School of Music.

“For me, a lot of mismanagement was going on while I was getting hired as stage manager in the School of Music,” Boyette said. “It took three months to be hired, and I would go to the office and hear that they’re ‘just backed up,’ an excuse they’ve been using for a whole year.”

Boyette added that ensuring student workers are paid promptly should be a priority and called on the CCE to improve communication and empathy toward student organizations.

Junior Cooper Sanders, a member of CSU’s pop rock and jazz bands, said that the CCE has made it difficult for student organizations to receive their funds. 

Bomgardner then invited the CSU jazz combo to perform in between speeches as pamphlets were passed out to attendees. 

The rally featured pamphlets distributed by WCSB staff, created by Bomgardner. The handouts provided an overview of CSU’s student organizations, outlined the challenges many of them are facing and included a call-to-action for those seeking to support the cause.

Next steps

Bomgardner laid out a series of immediate steps she hopes the university will take to address the ongoing concerns. It begins with better communication and student involvement in decision-making processes.

“First and foremost, we need transparency and communication,” she said. “We need a process in which student input is not just heard, but listened to.” 

Bomgardner explained that the CCE has withheld WCSB financial account information, making it difficult for their daily operations to continue.

“We need CCE to tell us what they're doing before they do it, not change policies and tell us they're going to change the bylaws without any student input,” she added, “that ultimately affects our daily operations and how we function on campus.”

If meaningful action isn’t taken, Bomgardner said she is prepared to take the issue beyond CSU and contact off-campus media outlets.

“Ultimately, this is a problem that Northeast Ohio should know about. We can continue to do on-campus engagement, but we are also part of a larger community,” she said. “If these guarantees aren't met, we are going to have to reach out to our broader community to ensure that this campus is as vibrant and diverse with all the organizations that it has on campus for the time to come.”

Bomgardner said she plans to continue organizing rallies every Tuesday and Thursday until organizational changes are made.

“We don't live to do this job – we need the job to live,” she said. “I think that's something that is missing from the CCE's perspective on how student organizations operate, and ultimately, it's been a numbers game instead of a people game.”

Editor's note: The reporter is affiliated with one of the affected CSU student organizations.