Benge and Larsen Awarded Prestigious Udall Scholarship trib-news.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from trib-news.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tiospaye Student Council received a budget exemption for their annual Wacipi at this week’s SGA meeting.
The Tiospaye Student Council petitioned SGA to appeal the vote from last week to deny the budget exemption.
“In previous years, SGA has been generous in giving us this exemption,” Tiospaye President Julianna Benge said. “With the knowledge that we have gained in the past week and looking at budgets, we are requesting to exempt four thousand of our allocated funds given for fiscal year 21 through 22 to use for Wacipi payouts.”
Tylar Larsen, Tiospaye vice president, said USD felt like home to him, which was solidified after attending the 47th Wacipi.
USD’s Student Government Association (SGA) discussed exempting some budget allocations for the Tiospaye Student Council, a Native American student group on campus, in order for the student organization to properly award dancers at their annual Wacipi, the largest cultural event at USD.
Wacipi is a word loosely meaning “they dance,” and is similar to a Powwow. The event has hosted over 2,000 people and 300 dancers in the past.
Tiospaye’s President Julianna Benge, Secretary Nick Kennedy and Vice President Tylar Larsen attended SGA representing the student organization.
Dancers come from all over the state and nation to attend the Wacipi and dance. Dancers are compensated and awarded with money allocated by SGA, which is typically spent on food and travel expenses. Not all dancers are awarded.