CU’s student government is considering a bill that could cut student fee funding from the Interactive Theatre Project, a performing arts and social justice group on campus.
The bill passed a first reading last Thursday night and is up for a second and final reading this coming Thursday.
ITP is a group of CU-Boulder students who put on performances once a month facilitating discussion about relevant social issues. Nearly half of ITP’s funding comes from student fee dollars. CUSG will decide whether to cut its funding on Thursday night.
Currently, the ITP student fee cost is $1.77 per student, said Isra Chaker, a 20-year-old junior and co-senator for the School of Architecture and Planning for CUSG.
According to its website, the ITP has been part of campus since 1999 and has been “providing professionally scripted/improvisational performances and facilitated discussions of social issues.”
According to an e-mail from Rebecca Brown Adelman, co-director of ITP, the group averages around 86 performances a year and its influence is growing beyond the CU-Boulder community. From 2008 to 2010, ITP performed over 258 times and reached an audience of over 25,000 people.
Maya Osterman, CU graduate and active member of ITP, said she received news of the proposed bill after returning home from a performance she composed addressing sex trafficking.
Osterman said she is disappointed with CUSG’s proposal to remove student fee funding from the project.
“It’s kind of sad how the whole thing played out,” Osterman said.
The bill states that in April of 2008, ITP agreed to a goal of raising $5 million over the course of five years. Since the creation of the bill, ITP has raised approximately $5,000, achieving only .1 percent of its initial goal.
According to the 2008 bill, the funding should be appropriated to ITP through fiscal year 2013-2014, when the group should ideally reach self-sustainability and independence from student fee funding.
In the ITP Responsibility Act proposed by Gregory Carlson, the College of Arts and Sciences senator for CUSG, it states that ITP fundraising has remained stagnant and that a proposal to divorce CUSG from funding responsibility is necessary.
Chaker said she disagrees with the proposal to cut student fee funding from the campus program.
“ITP has had a vital impact on many CU students,” Chaker said. “I’ve been rallying to fund ITP.”
Chaker said she believes it should be a student decision, rather than one prompted by the board of CUSG members.
“We need to ask the students if they are willing to pay it,” Chaker said.
Paola Segura, an 18-year-old freshman finance and international affairs major, said she believes ITP has good intentions, yet their financial responsibility is questionable.
“Any time you cut funding, it’s hard for an organization,” Segura said. “The Interactive Theater Project should adapt to the new challenge, and if they’re able to do it in a successful manner, then they should have more than enough authority to gain funding back.”
Segura said she believes the student fees are an insignificant amount to pay in the grand scheme of things.
“It does not make a difference on top of my inflated tuition bills,” Segura said.
Kevin Allman, a 19-year-old freshman business major, said he thinks ITP is a great program, but he also recognizes CU’s recent financial cutbacks.
“I question if the $5 million goal is too high for a non-profit organization like ITP,” Allman said.
A second reading will follow Thursday when the bill is reviewed again and either enacted or dismissed.
“No matter what they do, we’re going to fight it,” Osterman said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Audrey Hoffman-Lekmine at Audrey.hoffmanlekmine@Colorado.edu.
