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Stanford’s club funding provides $204,000 to Muslim student groups, which represent only 2% of the campus, while the Catholic community, which represents 23% of the campus, receives only $20,000. Sex and fetish organizations receive roughly as much as all 10 Christian groups on campus combined. Ethnic affinity groups collectively receive $50,000 more than all engineering clubs combined.
Stanford University has a robust club scene, with 815 registered clubs that launch satellites into space and build cars from scratch. All of these organizations are funded by the Associated Students of Stanford University (ASSU), an elected student government. All student organizations seeking funding from ASSU must undergo a rigorous process that includes an in-depth application, committee review, and confirmation by either a legislative body or the student body.
In the last cycle of student elections, ASSU came under fire for what the organization funds.
Most of the controversy centered around the Muslim Student Union (MSU), which received $175,000 this past year. Meanwhile, the Catholic Community at Stanford received $20,000, and all 10 Christian groups on campus received $125,000 collectively. Since 2018, MSU has increased from $46,000 to $175,000, increasing year over year, a 280% increase over 8 years.
One purpose behind MSU’s funding is to provide Iftar dinners during Ramadan. These dinners, however, serve a large group of Muslims, including non-students, as adults and children come from off-campus to gather during Ramadan. This violates ASSU policy, which states that it will never fund “food for non-students.”
Overall, Muslim groups on campus receive $204,000, while Muslim students make up 2% of the student population. Meanwhile, Hindu students, who make up 4% of the student population, receive $19,000, roughly 11% of the MSU budget, and Christian students, who make up 50% of the student population, receive $125,000, roughly 71.5% of the MSU budget. It is worth noting that these demographic numbers do not necessarily indicate the proportion of these students who practice their religion through campus programming, but the discrepancies are too large to be fully explained by that alone.
These discrepancies are not limited to religion; certain race and ethnicity-focused clubs are also vastly overrepresented.
The total funding for all Black/African groups is $354,246. Included in this figure are the Black Student Union ($58,265), the African Student Association ($68,560), the Akwaaba Ghanaian Students Association ($10,040), the East African Students Association ($17,540), and the “Faces of Afro Muslims” ($29,250). Indigenous groups receive $42,000.
This is despite Black students making up 6% of Stanford’s student population, and Indigenous students making up 1%.
In total, race and ethnic affinity groups receive $720,433, more than all funding directed to Stanford's Engineering clubs ($677,635).
$55,994 is allocated to the Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Stanford, an organization that the US government recognizes as directly subordinate to the Chinese Communist Party's ‘United Front’ initiative.
ASSU also allocates large amounts of money to explicitly sexual organizations. Stanford Drag Troupe receives $50,000, the Sexual Health and Peer Resource Center (SHPRC), which funds subsidized sex toys and BDSM classes, receives $50,000, and the Stanford Pole Collective and Stanford Furries each receive $10,000. Meanwhile, the Stanford Symphony Orchestra receives $27,154; the Stanford Mathematics Organization, $10,981; the Physics Society, $14,098; and the Society for Veterans, $10,000.
Two weeks ago, SHPRC hosted “Sex Week” at Stanford, which featured genitalia cupcakes, sex toys, BDSM workshops, “Queer Yoga” and more. The Stanford Pole Collective that week performed a sold-out show featuring pole-dancing by Stanford students. This past Friday, Stanford Drag Troupe put on “Dragfest Resurfaced”, an “unforgettable spectacle” featuring “a star-studded lineup of drag royalty, hosted by the legendary Peaches Christ.”
These four sex and fetish organizations receive nearly as much as every Christian group on campus combined.
The wide disparities in club funding are a symptom of a few potential problems. One possibility is that ASSU, a student-elected government, is, contrary to federal law, discriminating against certain clubs on ideological grounds. Another is that the funding represents the desires of the student body. A third is that certain affinity groups on campus are far more aggressive in their funding efforts than Christian, right-wing, or even just standard student groups.
Most likely, the answer is a combination of all three, and therefore, the job of students and administrators is to fight the rot that pervades the ASSU.
With thanks to the anonymous student group ASSUTracker for collating and presenting the ASSU funding documents.
