The Anime Club, Cosplay Club, Horn Club, Art and Design Club, and the Exercise Science/Clinical Physiology Club, among several clubs, were awarded with funding this past Thursday Jan. 12 by Student Leadership, Involvement, and Community Engagement (SLICE).

The funding is meant to support the clubs with traveling activities such as going to conventions, events and trainings. As well as helping cover travel expenses including hotels and transportation.

Some of the activities the funding will help with include the Anime and Cosplay Club Attending Sakura-Con, The Horn club being able to host a horn festival event on campus and the Art and Design club being able to attend a photography convention in Denver.

According to SLICE Director of Student Leadership Involvement and Community Engagement Amber Hoefer, the requests were first proposed to SLICE by each club. Where they were carefully evaluated before being presented to the SLICE board members for a decision.

“Student club members register their organization first, if they’re active and in good standing, then they can submit funding requests,” said Hoefer. “Before we even send it to the funds council, we make sure all of those checkboxes have been answered from a departmental standpoint and make sure the funds council has all the information they need to make a decision.”

According to Hoefer, the funding comes from Service and Activities (S&A)  funds which comes from the fees students pay throughout the year.

The funds council, which consists of several students who are members of different clubsheld the Registered Student Organization (RSO) funds meeting where they voted on and finalized a decision on the requests. 

Several club’s members came out to support their club’s requests. That included Many club leaders and their members presented their cases for requests after the board opened for public comments.

Some of the members who showed up in support of their clubs were Art and Design Club  member Arely Reyes and Club Secretary Jen Arnautovic. 

“It’s a big opportunity to expand our wings and be able to be in a professional space, you don’t really get a lot of opportunities for that,” Reyes said. “I know that I personally couldn’t justify paying for the trip and I know I’m not the only person in the club that couldn’t.”

According to Arnautovic, receiving this funding is the difference between being able to attend this important event where they are able to showcase their work with professionals in their field or not for many members.

“Without the funding I myself wouldn’t be able to go on this trip and I say more than 50 percent would not be able to go without this funding,” Arnautovic said.

Apart from the funds they received, several clubs also engaged in fundraising events.

Anyone interested in joining a club can sign up on CWU’s website.