April 14 served as the student assembly’s yearly budget meeting, where first-year treasurer Karen Cisneros gave a presentation regarding the financial requests of various organizations and clubs on campus for the 2026-2027 academic year.
Unlike most assembly meetings that often feature a guest speaker, updates from assembly members and a courtesy period, this one was solely focused on an open forum and Cisneros’ presentation.
During the open forum, individuals not part of the assembly were permitted about two minutes of speaking time where they could speak on behalf of their organization or club to share their thoughts on the requested budget.
Jacob Enscoe, the Equinox’s administrative executive editor, said the organization’s budget was vital for giving all 15 e-board members the option to attend conventions that the Equinox goes to throughout the academic year.
Enscoe said that the financials included would cover travel costs such as plane tickets and overnight accommodations. If lowered, the budget would only enable about half of the e-board to attend.
Enscoe also said that the conventions serve as seminars and workshops and often lead to the organization picking up national awards, most recently including first place in general excellence for the third year in a row at the New Hampshire Press Association.
“These conventions are vital for a paper in terms of learning, experience and getting recognition,” said Enscoe. “I would ask that you guys consider a little bit more for travel and registration.”
Cisneros said that the budget requests made prior to any cuts came out to a total of $913,584. The budget committee’s recommendation and estimated financial ability to support Keene State’s clubs and organizations was $600,000.
Cisneros added that it’s important for students to recognize that fewer people are attending college, which will lead to further financial decrease. Additionally, she said that money was not obtainable after being distributed to an organization, even if it wasn’t spent by the end of the year.
“As the years go on, more and more clubs are requesting, but we’re getting less and less money,” she said.
To figure out the budget recommendation, the budget committee held three meetings, one being over 12 hours long according to Cisneros. The committee looked over all clubs and organizations that requested financial support, including their spending over the past year and any funds they had left.
Cisneros also said that the committee focused on whether or not the budget requests were mission critical. Mission critical refers to how much of an organization’s funding is actually contributing to its intention and purpose.
Keene State’s Black Student Union (BSU) requested $7,800, and was recommended $2,250. Cisneros said the cut was done as a result of BSU not spending a majority of their funding from the previous year. The club was granted $8,200 yet had $6,668 remaining.
Additionally, the Global Cultural Club requested $10,350 and was recommended $3,200. Similar to BSU, the club has a remainder of their budget left but were still recommended about $700 more than they received the previous year.
Another club that requested more than what they were recommended was CRU Keene. Despite being recognized as a well-known and growing organization, as well as spending a majority of their budget this year, CRU was only recommended $4,000 of the $11,200 they requested. However, the club was recommended an additional $2,000 compared to what they’d received last year, mostly for travel expenses.
The Social Activities Council (SAC) requested $20,777 and received a recommendation of $6,667, largely due to a significant attendance shift in SAC’s events and activities.
Cisneros said that SAC shared a document with the committee that included a breakdown of all they planned to do in the 2026-2027 academic year. Cisneros said that the document was helpful as it enabled the committee to best determine what events and activities weren’t feasible, including one planned event that would cost around $80,000.
After a vote, the budget recommendation of $600,000 was passed with one opposition. Representative Liam Slattery said that as a result there would be about $20,000 left over.
Samantha Menard can be contacted at
Hope is the managing executive editor and Jacob Enscoe is the administrative executive editor of The Equinox and they had no part in the editing of this article.
