60% of UCLA’s Green Initiative Went Unused Between 2017 and 2020

60% of UCLA’s Green Initiative Went Unused Between 2017 and 2020

What a waste of money. UCLA undergraduates pay $4.80 for this “green initiative” to help the environment. When the school does use the funds, it’s hardly for anything related to its purpose. From The College Fix:

However, even when the money is spent, it goes to projects with questionable “sustainability” benefits, such as “cultural graduation ceremonies.”

—

But between 2017 and 2020, roughly 60% of TGIF funding went unused each year. Budget analysis by the Daily Bruin found a surplus increasing by around $90,000 annually during this time period.

The campus newspaper investigation, which looked at data between 2017 to 2022, “found that hundreds of thousands of TGIF dollars collected annually from students have gone unused over the past six years, accruing large sums in a surplus account.”

It reported:

For example, TGIF had nearly $600,000 available to spend in the 2017-2018 academic year, but the fund spent only $230,000, according to an analysis of annual Associated Students UCLA budget reports. A surplus exceeding $350,000 remained and reached nearly $450,000 at the end of the following year. TGIF was the lowest proportional spender among all of the 32 student fee funds that year at only 60%, according to a Daily Bruin analysis.

The paper reported that none of the sustainability committee members interviewed could “provide a uniform set of sustainability criteria.”

“Student fees collected by TGIF have been used to help fund [student government’s] iClicker rental program, biodegradable diningware for volunteer dinners, a vegan cookbook promotional event, the creation of poetry booklets, and multiple student music festivals and fashion shows,” the paper reported.

Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.