Group being scaled back

The organization that promotes diversity and an open-minded atmosphere on campus no longer will meet every other week, deciding instead to meet when needed.

REACH, which stands for Respecting, Embracing and Achieving Community Harmony, also acts as a programming group to  distribute grants for diversity events and groups around Butler University.

“We want to focus on programming on a larger scale,” Alex Montgomery, vice president of diversity programming, said.

The REACH executive board decided that assemblies were becoming too monotonous, which led to a change in the frequency of meetings.

REACH  assembly previously met on a biweekly basis but recently decided that the executive board will meet as necessary. Forums will be held throughout the year for everyone to attend.

“We felt assembly was losing excitement and productivity,” Montgomery said. “We want students to be productive and excited, and we want assembly to be anticipated.”

Student Government Association President Al Carroll said that REACH forums have been changed to make the grant process less confusing.
Instead of having multiple presentations to get multiple grants, REACH and the finance board are working together to combine REACH grants and SGA grants.

But Montgomery wants to point out that REACH is not just for diversity organizations to receive grants. She wants REACH to be “sort of rebranded,” and known for programming instead of a way to distribute money.

“Members would come to assembly to get grants, and then they would disappear once they got it,” she said.

Part of Carroll’s platform when he was running for SGA president was his desire to make REACH more effective.

“The primary goal was to make it a programming group,” Carroll said.

In the past there have been attempts to get rid of REACH altogether, but students and alumni have come together at assemblies and voiced feelings of how important REACH is for the student body.

“[REACH] empowers organizations that are under-represented on campus,” Montgomery said. “We want students to know that REACH is a support system attached to SGA, but it can hold its own.”

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