In September 2023, associate director of diversity, equity and inclusion Guyton Mathews told GDS affinity group heads that the school was going to reduce the food budget for all groups.
The budget cut has sparked concerns among affinity group heads about maintaining engagement in their groups without being able to provide food at all of their meetings. This year, groups receive $225 in funding.
The previous budget allotted groups one lunch and two snacks in the fall and two lunches and two snacks in the spring, with a budget of $400 per year. When heads plan to have affinity group meetings, they submit a form to the office for diversity, equity and inclusion requesting funds so the groups can provide lunch or snacks at their meetings.
Mathews told the Bit that if affinity group heads needed more funding than the budget allows to pay for lunches, they can reach out to the office of diversity, equity and inclusion to accommodate their needs.
Reynolds, a co-head of Gradient, the affinity group for queer people of color, added that the heads were not given a reason for the reduction.
Mathews said that the decrease in budget was because there are more groups this year. “Last year we had around 20 affinity groups. This year we have around 23 or 24,” he said.
According to the GDS website, “affinity groups are for individuals who identify as members of the group and can speak to the experience of being a member of the group from the ‘I’ perspective.” Clubs, however, are open to all high school students.
“It’s a little bit annoying because the budget helps get food and stuff like that, which I thought really brought people together,” junior Laila Bapna, a co-head of the South Asian Affinity Group, said.
Mathews said that the office of diversity, equity and inclusion has been open to heads requesting additional food. “We really do try and make sure that all the affinity groups get what they need when they request it,” he said.
Bapna and Swamy said that they weren’t told they could reach out and request more funding.“I didn’t know that was an option,” Bapna said.
“For my affinity group, a lot of the reason we meet with everyone is the food aspect — to try different foods from different cultures,” Swamy said. She added that it is difficult to do that without a sufficient number of meals.
“We have not been able to have catered food every meeting,” Swamy said.
Bapna and Swamy along with Sophomore Madeleine Genia, a member of Fusion, noticed more people came to meetings when food was provided.
In a given year, club heads can request up to $500 in club funding from the Student Staff Council (SSC). However, that money cannot be used to purchase food and is only provided after the club has shown attempts to fundraise for themselves.
Reynolds told the Bit that he is working on other events that don’t require funding, such as movie events and trying to collaborate with other affinity groups.
Bapna said that the co-heads of the South Asian Affinity Group, which is in charge of planning the Holi assembly, decided to buy the materials with their own money for the assembly and not from the affinity group budget in an effort to save it for food at meetings.