The Student Association has withdrawn $5,000 in funding for the Linda Yalem Safety Run, drawing harsh criticism from the UB administration.
Every September, the Division of Student Affairs holds the race in memory of Linda Yalem, a UB student who was raped and murdered while jogging on the Ellicott bike path in September 1990.
According to a prepared statement from SA, the only response the organization would provide, last year's SA Senate decided not to fund the 2003 race due to an alleged lack of support from the Yalem family. UB officials urged the SA Executive Board to reconsider their decision, but the E-board refused.
SA President George Pape declined to comment on the issue.
A university administrator, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Yalem family has been supportive of the race from the beginning.
"This whole episode is embarrassing to the Student Association," the administrator said Tuesday. "Anyone in the know would recognize that their decision was insensitive, illogical and self-defeating."
The Yalem family has "not once expressed concern about the race or its name," according to the source.
According to Dennis R. Black, vice president for student affairs, the organizers of the race are confident that SA's withdrawal of funds will not be the end of the annual event.
"The race committee is grateful for all the good people who have supported the race," Black said. "We are confident that the race will continue into the future."
SA announced Sunday night its decision in a fax printed on SA letterhead and addressed to Jay R. Friedman, assistant director of the Office of Special Events.
"Unfortunately, our request to contact the Yalem family has been deemed inappropriate," the fax stated. "This, coupled with the litigious past of UB and the Yalem family, has led the SA Executive Board to conclude it cannot financially support the Linda Yalem Safety Run."
According to the SA prepared statement, the withdrawn funding will be given to other campus safety initiatives, including the Department of Health Education and Human Services' "Take Back the Night" program.
The administrator said that though the Yalem family sued UB following the murder over safety concerns, they have always supported the race itself. SA has never previously withdrawn funding for the race due to the original lawsuit.
Proceeds from the Linda Yalem Safety Run support safety awareness and rape prevention programming, according to the Student Affairs Web site.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
