Within the next few weeks, Student Council will award grants of up to $500 to student and Charlottesville community groups as part of the University Unity Project to increase student interaction within the Charlottesville community, Student Council President Matt Schrimper said. The Council has $10,000 at its disposal, thanks to a donation from the University Bookstore.
University Unity Project Chair Rob Atkinson said only certain types of projects fitting the theme of “Beyond our Grounds, within our community” will be awarded grants.
“We’re not looking for this to be another round of appropriations,” Atkinson said, adding that the committee is looking for unique ideas and projects. “We just don’t really want something that’s already been done,” he said.
Schrimper said there are no stipulations as to how the money can be spent and there are no rules against a group receiving multiple grants. Student groups can apply online and will receive a response from the committee within two weeks, Schrimper said.
The Unity Project Committee, comprised of representatives from Student Council, class councils and the University Programs Council, will approve which groups will receive funding and what the funding level will be, Schrimper said.
“[We will] give them money to start their project ... then we work with them to make sure that their event is a success,” he said.
Currently, representatives from the Unity Project Committee are processing the first set of applications. Only three applications have been turned in thus far, but Atkinson said “more applications will be coming in the near future.” He added that he expects more applications once people “figure out how this works.”
Impact Movement Treasurer Diamond Bruner said she remembers Council sending out information about the University Unity Project to the executives of student groups, but she does not recall a follow-up or other means of advertising. She said she thinks the grant is something her group might be interested in applying for.
Latino Student Union President Chris Blank said his organization plans to apply for money from the fund. The Latino Student Union hopes to use the money to host a dinner with Creciendo Juntos, a Charlottesville organization that promotes healthy living in the Hispanic community, he said.
“We are hopefully going to be using some of the University Unity Fund [for the dinner],” Blank said.
Charlottesville community organizations are also able to apply, but they would most likely need to work with a University group for their application to be approved, Atkinson said.
Atkinson did not want to comment on the quality of the applications and project proposals received thus far until he receives the input of other committee members. He noted, however, that one of the applications pairs a student and community organization.
Both Atkinson and Schrimper stressed that the University Unity Project is a unique opportunity for student groups because, in general, Council comes up with its own ideas and tries to get people behind them.
“We’re really making the resources available to students so that they can take ideas or initiatives that they’ve already wanted to do but haven’t been able to do because they aren’t [able] — let them enact their own initiative [and] come from a grassroots level,” Atkinson said. It’s a “different way of looking at Student Council.”
Applications for project grants are being accepted on a rolling basis.
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