The Summit Singers will not be receiving funds from St. Thomas’ Undergraduate Student Government this year, which will force them to start charging for some performances.

In the past, 25 percent of the group’s funding came from USG. Senior Michaela Hughbanks, USG vice president of financial affairs, said funding guidelines are set every year in the fall semester. As an exclusive club, the Summit Singers were only eligible for conference and competition funding, which supports up to 50 percent of the amount requested. Hughbanks said USG suggested the group find other funding options.

“There were other funding options that could fund them much more money for this special request,” Hughbanks said. “We suggested they start with STAR, whose co-op process is designed to support campus-wide events such as their concerts.”

As a USG member, senior Chad Berg, Summit Singers president, said he understands USG has the right to make the change but disagrees with the decision.

“It’s a little bit frustrating I guess, because it’s inconsistent from year to year,” he said.

The Summit Singers receive the other 75 percent of funding from STAR.

Senior Lauren Nash, who is a member of St. Thomas’ American Marketing Association, said she was surprised the Summit Singers did not receive funding, as her club gets more than enough.

“It’s sad that the Summit Singers don’t get any funding (from USG),” Nash said. “We get a lot of alumni dollars, so I feel like there should be enough money to go around.”

The Summit Singers are now re-structuring to become a revenue-raising organization to get the additional money and said they will now charge departments for performances. They need funding to pay for lights, giveaways and advertising.

“In the past, it’s kind of been our vision to be able to just perform as often as we can and help other clubs out and help organizations on campus out and sing for free,” Berg said. “But now we’re going to have to start charging.”

The group will not charge for its regular semester concerts, however. Berg said the club enjoys singing for fellow students, so it wanted to keep admission free to retain attendance.

“We want the students to enjoy our performances, and we want it to just be a St. Thomas thing, not so much incorporating all the stress of the business model and funding into all of it,” Berg said.

Sophomore Justin Hammer, who has attended a Summit Singers concert before, said he would be willing to pay to attend one of the groups’ performances.

“I actually liked it so much that I would definitely be willing to pay something,” Hammer said.

The singers have received support from the university’s Pepsi contract project, which provides $50,000 annually for St. Thomas student-based projects. The funding provided new microphones that are compatible with the O’Shaughnessy Education Center auditorium’s new sound system.

If the group does not receive the necessary funding this semester, Berg said the concert will still take place and will be funded with money the group has saved from previous years. In the future, however, if the singers do not receive funding, Berg said they will have to look into more fundraising options, charging for tickets or – worst case scenario – canceling concerts.

Despite the difficulties, Berg said the Summit Singers will pursue any means necessary to fund their performances.

“At the end of the day, all we want to do is put on a good show for the student body and provide the greatest value we can to the St. Thomas community,” Berg said.

Rebecca Mariscal can be reached at mari2162@stthomas.edu.