Spring Break
Vagina Club's funds for charity misplaced
by Justin Sulsky
News Editor
News | 3/6/07
Posted online at 11:37 PM EST on 3/5/07
/ Last updated at 9:25 PM EST on 3/5/07
The Union misplaced approximately $3,500 in funds raised by the Vagina Club last year, officials close to the situation said.
The funds were raised to benefit the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center last year during the annual Vagina Fest. But the funds were never deposited into the proper bank account and the Student Union paid BARCC approximately $3,500 out of its own operating budget to reconcile the situation.
"I took all the money we had raised and counted it with the [Union] treasurer [Nick Freeman '07]," Sarah Krevsky '08, the finance coordinator for the Vagina Club this year and last, said. "He assured me that he would put it in the bank account."
Union officials said they did not believe that Freeman had acted maliciously.
"In terms of Nick's integrity, I trust him; he did not steal the money," Director of Executive Affairs Adam Gartner '07 said. Brian Paternostro '07, the Union's director of communications, agreed.
Krevsky said Freeman told her by e-mail that the funds were transferred to the proper bank account a week-and-a- half after the deposit was made.
Freeman, currently the Senator for the Foster Mods, said he recalled counting out the money "only because [former director of Social Affairs] Edgar [Ndjatou '06] was in the room and was really freaked out by all the piles of twenties on the table."
Freeman said he went to the Bank of America on Main Street to make the depoist, mostly of cash.
But when Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes was asked to issue the check to BARCC for the Vagina Club over the summer (when Union officials are away for the summer, Grimes said she takes on some of their responsibilities), she said she could not find a record of that deposit.
Grimes and Union officials said the cash should have been deposited into a special Union account solely for the purpose of fundraising and not an account for the Vagina Club.
Stephen Costa, a budget analyst in the office of students and enrollment who handles Union finances, said that he and Union officials checked other Brandeis bank accounts to find the missing money, unsuccessfully.
The funds were raised to benefit the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center last year during the annual Vagina Fest. But the funds were never deposited into the proper bank account and the Student Union paid BARCC approximately $3,500 out of its own operating budget to reconcile the situation.
"I took all the money we had raised and counted it with the [Union] treasurer [Nick Freeman '07]," Sarah Krevsky '08, the finance coordinator for the Vagina Club this year and last, said. "He assured me that he would put it in the bank account."
Union officials said they did not believe that Freeman had acted maliciously.
"In terms of Nick's integrity, I trust him; he did not steal the money," Director of Executive Affairs Adam Gartner '07 said. Brian Paternostro '07, the Union's director of communications, agreed.
Krevsky said Freeman told her by e-mail that the funds were transferred to the proper bank account a week-and-a- half after the deposit was made.
Freeman, currently the Senator for the Foster Mods, said he recalled counting out the money "only because [former director of Social Affairs] Edgar [Ndjatou '06] was in the room and was really freaked out by all the piles of twenties on the table."
Freeman said he went to the Bank of America on Main Street to make the depoist, mostly of cash.
But when Director of Student Activities Stephanie Grimes was asked to issue the check to BARCC for the Vagina Club over the summer (when Union officials are away for the summer, Grimes said she takes on some of their responsibilities), she said she could not find a record of that deposit.
Grimes and Union officials said the cash should have been deposited into a special Union account solely for the purpose of fundraising and not an account for the Vagina Club.
Stephen Costa, a budget analyst in the office of students and enrollment who handles Union finances, said that he and Union officials checked other Brandeis bank accounts to find the missing money, unsuccessfully.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
James Sanders
posted 3/06/07 @ 11:33 AM EST
Finally, someone picked up on this. Ask the right questions and you may find other money went missing. Ask what happened to turkey shuttle money, liquid latex money from last year and the year before. (Continued…)
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