Dance team not recognized as a student organization or sport by administration

Antonio Masone

The Student Government Association, Residence Hall Association, and Campus Activities and Programming Board are student organizations, while basketball, lacrosse, and tennis are sports. But, there is an often-overlooked fine line that lies between clubs and sports at Cabrini. Dancing their high-spirited selves into our lives once a year, is the dance team whose season stretches from October to March, yet the team receives neither recognition from the college as a student organization, nor as a sport.

The problem is that “the dance team was only given $300 from the Student Government Association,” Coach Gina Roswell, a senior said. SGA is responsible for giving campus-recognized organizations a sufficient budget. Recognized organizations on-campus are given more, the RHA, for example, is given over $3,000. The dance team receives no recognition and, like the Improvisational troupe that insists on remaining independent in order to hold auditions, only receives a small amount of financial support if any.

Roswell was unhappy with the small amount of financial support from that the team was given and contacted Coach John Dzik, athletic director, during the summer of 2002, about the dance team becoming a part of the athletic department. Last year’s dance team expenses required almost $3,000 for uniforms and shoes alone.

$300 doesn’t even cover the expense of three girls,” Roswell said.

“They are not recognized or registered as a student organization on campus through the Office of Student Activities,” Jason Bozzone, director of Student Activities, said.

Roswell believes that the dance team is much more than a club because of the enormous length of their season, October through March. “We do too much for ourselves, for the school and for the students, faculty, and community to be categorized as such,” Roswell said.

Bozzone has spoken to Dzik about the possibility of the dance team becoming a student organization for the upcoming semester.

“I have been asked by Coach Dzik and a few students to intervene and facilitate meetings on how student activities and athletics can better serve the dance team for the future.