UPDATE: SGA officials responded to KnightNews.com this afternoon, but did not answer questions about who allegedly threatened the club.
“Student Government has received correspondence from the organization and both parties are satisfied that the issue resulted from a miscommunication between the Student Union and the organization,” read an e-mail from Matthew Smith, an SGA public relations coordinator.
Click here to read the full e-mail thread between SGA and KnightNews.com, including our questions that SGA has not yet answered.
After KnightNews.com asked SGA these questions, we got an e-mail from Spencer DeWald, who had put in writing that Campus Crusade had its status as an RSO threatened, saying that he “retracted” his earlier e-mail.
“Upon reviewing my communication I would like to retract my statement saying that Campus Crusade’s RSO status would be ‘stripped.’ Considering that I was very stressed at the time I took it the worst way possible. Upon further reflection I can say that I over reacted in my choice of language. Campus Crusade’s RSO status is not in jeopardy of being stripped,” DeWald wrote.
Neither DeWald nor SGA will tell KnightNews.com who specifically it was that DeWald had the miscommunication with. KnightNews.com wants to interview that person to find out the whole story. Although SGA did not reveal who the “miscommunication” was with, officials did reveal the miscommunication was with the “Student Union.”
This is the second major “miscommunication” involving UCF’s Student Union in recent memory. The other was with KnightNews.com over its right to gather news outside of the “Free Assembly Area.” KnightNews.com retained an attorney to defend its right to free speech. That matter was also deemed a “miscommunication” and ended up being resolved without litigation, with KnightNews.com being granted the same rights as all media covering UCF — which includes the ability to gather news outside of any “Free Assembly Area.”
KnightNews.com will continue investigating what sparked the disagreement with Campus Crusade and the Union, and will update you when we uncover more details.
10:44 A.M. UPDATE: SGA Silent Over Allegations of Threats To Campus Crusade for Christ KnightNews.com got an e-mailed statement from Spencer DeWald of Campus Crusade for Christ late last night indicating the dispute between his organization and UCF was related to his failure to meet “UCF food regulation code” while planning his event. We are still working to find out the exact name of the person he said threatened him originally over the status of the club, so we can get their side and seek out the truth and whole story as to how it apparently snowballed into a firestorm.
So far, SGA President Brian Peterson has not responded to our e-mail requesting comment from SGA. At this point, SGA has not officially denied this threat was made, however, an adviser without direct involvement in this situation speculated it was likely a miscommunication. We will work again today to get a comment from Peterson.
Yesterday afternoon, KnightNews.com e-mailed SGA’s Speaker of the Senate, which at the time was Patrick Stauffer. Last night, a new speaker was elected by the Senate. Stuaffer never responded, but we will now also e-mail the new SGA Speaker, Drew Pope, to see if he will comment and help sort out what caused this tension between the Registered Student Organization and UCF. We are also still waiting on replies from SGA Chief of Operations Mike Kilbride and SGA Internal Public Relations Coordinator Matthew Smith for an official SGA comment about the situation, and for more information.
Click here to read DeWald’s updated statement.
ORIGINAL STORY, 2:44 p.m. 4/8/10
UCF Threatened Club Over Fundraiser for Earthquake Victims, Club Says
Campus Crusade for Christ’s large-scale chili cook off fundraiser, which was intended to raise money to provide relief to victims of the recent earthquake in Chile, has been cancelled by UCF, according to a Campus Crusade organizer.
“UCF told us that if we hold the chili cook off that they would strip campus crusade of their RSO (registered student organization) status,” Campus Crusade member Spencer DeWald wrote in an e-mail to KnightNews.com. “It’s really bogus considering that people sell baked goods all the time but apparently multiple RSO’s cant get together and cook for a worthy cause.”
DeWald e-mailed KnightNews.com earlier this week asking for help promoting his event through news coverage. The event was originally planned to take place tonight, Thursday, at 8:15 p.m., and included plans to have Bruce Miller, a football player, Miss UCF Sara York, and Vivian Ray, a Rosen chef, as judges for the chili cook off.
As of Sunday, a total of 20 teams had already signed up, including LEAD Scholars, NORML, Volunteer UCF, Women’s Volleyball and Habitat for Humanity, according to DeWald.
The goal was to raise $1,000 to help feed and clothe those devastated by the earthquake. They were asking the public for $5 donations to attend.
DeWald said he worked “furiously” to try and make this event happen, but so far it appears it is still cancelled.
“I am sorry any inconvenience that this may cause you but I worked for many hours trying to find any loophole to make this event happen,” he wrote.
KnightNews.com e-mailed several top SGA leaders and copied one of their advisers in SGA Thursday afternoon to try and get a response from SGA.
No SGA officials immediately responded, but adviser Christa Coffey did.
Coffey explained she was not speaking on behalf of SGA, and that she was not involved with this issue. However, she did point out that in past experiences she’s had, policies regarding proper food handling and liability came up. It’s not clear if that was the issue here yet or not.
While Coffey was not involved with communication from this club, she did say, “I would imagine that there’s been a miscommunication about their status as an RSO. To my knowledge, no one has said they’d “strip” the group of its status if they have the cook off.”
We also have asked for more details from DeWald. If we find out the event will take place off campus, we will update you here and on our Facebook page.
Check back for updates on this breaking story.
