Financial Officer: Mariko McDonagh (mjm84@stanford.edu)
Amount Approved: $32,966
Full Budget

What is the mission and purpose of your student group?

SOCA seeks to celebrate and promote the arts at Stanford by
creating artistic opportunities that are cooperative and
inclusive, not competitive or exclusive. The group hopes to
instill an appreciation across campus for the breadth and depth
of artistic endeavors among students, faculty and staff, and to
encourage all community members to pursue an interest in the
arts.

The following SOCA initiatives have been implemented in the
pursuit of our goals:

An Art Affair- The largest student organized arts festival in
Stanford history. An eclectic collection of creativity and
passion.

The Stanford Soundtrack- A campus-wide compilation CD. A disc
featuring 20 songs that is distributed to 3000 students.

Community Day- A vibrant chance to share Stanford Arts with
surrounding communities through Stanford?s largest open house.

Soca in the City- An opportunity for Stanford students to
experience the arts in San Francisco for free. Events have been
sponsored at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San
Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Opera, Yerba Buena Center for the
Arts, Yoshi?s jazz club, and more.

Soca to Go- Intimate performances in dorms by Stanford musicians,
dancers, and other artists, as well as brief interactive art
workshops for members of the residence.

All of our events are open to both the undergraduate and graduate
Stanford population.

Why are you requesting Special Fees?

We aim to achieve our mission to celebrate and promote the arts
at Stanford by implementing various programs and events to serve
all members of the Stanford community. Our initiatives are aimed
to nurture the artistic creativity in every Stanford student.
These events and programs, however, cannot be self-funded and
require financial resources to implement. Therefore we ask the
student body for special fees funding to promote the arts in a
way that is not achieved by any other student group on campus.

What are the three largest line item requests in your budget and why?

The three largest line items requests in our budget are Technical
Services, Equipment Rental, and Facilities Rental. The money we
request in these budgets are devoted to implementing our
largest-cost event, An Art Affair. An Art Affair is the largest
student organized arts festival in Stanford history. It is an all
day event in White Plaza that celebrates the arts on campus by
showcasing the artistic talents of the entire community. The
event includes performance and visual art, creative writing,
film, culinary art and much more.

This large-scale event requires multiple stages, a complete sound
system, several large tents, lights, food for over 700 students,
and art supplies for artists, among other things. These
requirements necessitate a significant financial commitment. The
money from Technical Services, Equipment Rental, and Facilities
Rental goes towards meeting these requirements.

If you applied for Special Fees last year, is there an increase in the
amount you're seeking this year?  If so, why?

No, this year we are requesting the same amount in Special Fees
that we received last year.

SOCA continually seeks and obtains large contributions from
departments within the University, such as the Vice Provost for
Undergraduate Education, The President and Provost, The Dean of
Students, The Dean of Humanities and Sciences, and the Stanford
Alumni Association.  While SOCA looks forward to their future
support, the current economic climate does not assure such
generous contributions in years to come.  To ensure that SOCA can
continue its endeavors, Special Fees will help alleviate the
reliance on outside sources, and allow continued opportunities
for Stanford Artists even amidst a difficult economy.

While SOCA has grown quickly, the team is fervently committed to
a high standard for its productions. Endeavors like An Art
Affair, The Stanford Soundtrack, and SOCA-in-the-City are
envisioned and created with this goal in mind: to enhance the
Stanford experience with novel venues for artistic expression.
SOCA envisions a vibrant future for the arts at Stanford. In
addition to continued development of existing endeavors, the
group looks forward to a set of exciting new initiatives that
will continue to enhance student life at Stanford for years to
come.