The board unanimously approved a $7,384 expenditure for 27 students to attend the Anaheim theme park in December.
By Natalie Metcalf, Valley Life Editor
The Associated Student Union met on Sept. 23 for an emergency meeting, unanimously passing a $7,384 trip to Disneyland for later this year.
The budget request was submitted by ASU advisor Monica Flores. The board has already allocated $158,954 of their total budget for 2022-23, leaving a remaining balance of $46. The Disneyland trip is scheduled for Dec. 18 and is connected to a leadership workshop series. ASU board members are guaranteed a ticket to the happiest place on earth, as each member is required to attend the workshops for leadership training. The funds were used to purchase park tickets, transportation and food. In total, 30 passes have been purchased for the trip; for 27 students and three chaperones.
“It’s open to the public and if people asked about it we’d let them know,” said ASU Treasurer Diego Enriquez, in reference to the meeting on Sept. 23. “Our job isn’t to advocate these meetings unless it’s something people want to see.”
Flores explained that while emergency meetings do not require a public notice, the board still posted the agenda for the meeting 72 hours before. According to the Brown Act, regular meetings must be announced to the public. Any agency that has a website must include a link to the agenda. Valley’s website is currently under construction and will not be available to students until mid-October. The agenda for the meeting on Sept. 23 was not posted on ASU’s Instagram.
Since the board is returning back to campus, all the ASU meetings will be posted downstairs in the student union plaza. Before the pandemic, meetings were also posted on the website rather than on social media.
According to the leadership workshop series flier posted on ASU’s Instagram, if students participate in all three meetings they will have an “opportunity to apply” to attend the theme park in December. The first meeting in the series took place on Sept. 16 and the last two seminars are scheduled for Oct. 7 and Nov. 4. Students who apply for the trip must also pay their $10 associated student organization membership fee.
“I think it’s a really exciting opportunity for students,” said Mia Sanchez, the commissioner of fine arts. “You’re going to Disneyland and learning all of these leadership skills. I think it’s really informative as well.”
Leftover Disneyland tickets will be available to students in the inter-club council, the student government board made up of one representative from each chartered club on campus. Their next meeting takes place on Oct. 13 at 1 p.m.
Student union Disneyland trips have precedent. In June of this year, the previous ASU board, including the current president, went to Disneyland. A mandatory leadership workshop occurred in May and was connected to the previous Disneyland trip, much like this semester’s workshop meetings.
“It was a last-minute plan,” said Flores in reference to the Disneyland trip in June. “We were slowly returning back. It was very last-minute planning but it worked out really well.”
The student union advisor is continuing the workshop series this semester and hopes to continue in the Spring semester.
The next finance and executive council meeting will be on Oct. 11 from 1 p.m to 3 p.m. Monarchs are welcome to attend the meetings, as they are open to the public.