Grinnell College is often lauded for its tremendous endowment which enables the school to bring a multitude of speakers, shows and other events to campus. But while the college's financial resources are extensive, gaining access to them is not always easy. Allie Kossoy '08 learned this the hard way in trying to raise money to bring renowned doctor and motivational speaker Patch Adams to campus.

Kossoy became interested in bringing Adams to campus after seeing him speak at the University of Virginia. After that event she contacted the lecture's organizer to learn about what it would take. "I learned that it cost $20,000, and actually that's the reduced price," she said. "My jaw dropped."

However, learning that the profit from the speech would go towards funding the Gesundheit! Institute, which aims to provide free health care to all of its patients, Kossoy remained determined to bring Adams to campus.

Throughout the spring of 2007, Kossoy sought funding through the President's Fund, the Lily Program, and the Rosenfield Program. After receiving $4,000 from Rosenfield, Kossoy turned to the Office of College and Alumni Relations to make up the difference. She met with Vice President Mickey Munley '87, who told her that his office could supply some of the funding but not all.

"[Munley] said he would meet me halfway," said Kossoy.

Having exhausted her options and in need of $5,000 more to meet Munley's stipulation, Kossoy turned to SGA's All Campus Events (ACE) Committee in the fall of 2007. On September 19th, 2007, in the first session of Joint Board for the fall of 2007, ACE presented its recommendation.

"ACE Committee initially recommended that we allocate $1500," said TJ Hawley '10, coordinator of ACE Committee. SGA has never allocated more than $3,000 to bringing any one speaker to campus.

Despite the recommendation and precedent, however, Joint Board voted to approve $5,000 to bring Patch Adams to campus.

"ACE Committee was very surprised," said Hawley. "It's not very common that the committee recommendation isn't accepted by Joint Board."

"There are multiple reasons I think SGA gave it," said Kossoy. "One is because they knew I had exhausted all the other options and two because they knew how big of a deal it was to the student body."

Joint Board's surprising budget approval was not without contestation, however. "I didn't expect that Joint Board would stray so far from what ACE had recommended," said Allison Amphlett '08. Amphlett, after reading the minutes of the September 19th was concerned with the actions of Joint Board.

"It was really early in the semester, so a significant portion of these senators were first-time senators who had never approved budgets ... my concerns mostly were with the large amount of money and that they were sort of hasty in their actions," said Amphlett.

Amphlett's concerns were brought before Joint Board at the following week's meeting on September 26, 2007. Senator Laura Lienemann '08 moved to reconsider the Patch Adams budget approval, and Amphlett expressed her concerns. The matter was debated at some length.

"I didn't really expect that they would take the money away," said Amphlett. " I just wanted them to be aware of what they had done, sort of betrayed what students expected to occur. No one had time to express opinions on it because it was so different from what happens."

A motion in Joint Board to rescind the budget failed. Kossoy said she thought the decision to fund the speech was valid given SGA's financial resources. "I know it's important to spread out the money," said Kossoy. "But SGA gets a lot more than I think people realize, and there's only so much you can spend on snacks and parties."

With the $5,000 awarded from SGA, $4,000 from the Rosenfield program, and $1,000 from Tom Crady, Kossoy met her goal. The remaining $10,000 procured through Mickey Munley is attributed simply to a contribution from the Office of College and Alumni Relations.

Munley said that his office decided to help fund the event because it recognized the challenges some students, like Kossoy, face in getting funding. "It's not always possible to provide resources, funding and support in the way every student wants," said Munley, "but [Kossoy] worked hard ... and was very persuasive in the argument she made for bringing him to campus."

Patch Adams is on campus today giving two talks in Herrick Chapel: "The Joy of Caring" from noon until 2:00 p.m. and "What is Your Love Strategy" from 7:00p.m. to 8:30 p.m.