The sweatpants were to be purchased as a class project and would have cost $4,000. Three thousand dollars were allocated from the SFC discretionary fund and the remaining $1,000 came from the class president allocation.
"The money was returned because several members of my class, as well as myself, thought that the demonstration model was not aesthetically pleasing and did not fit well," said Sparrow.
Before Sparrow returned the money, Matsui requested $3,999 plus shipping and handling to buy hooded sweatshirts for her class. On March 3, Matsui was told that her request had been denied.
"I put in my request prompted by my class. Many juniors had heard of the sophomores getting sweatpants … so I feel like I submitted my request in the interest of fairness," said Matsui. "If I hadn't put in my request, maybe the sweatpants money would have stayed."
SFC member Livia Angiolillo '04 commented on unanimous rejection of Matsui's request by the SFC. "Blake returned the funds before we voted," she said. "Our decision was based on principle-Blake had returned the money, so it wasn't appropriate [to grant Matsui funds for the hoodies]."
Sparrow said he did know about Matsui's request when he decided to return the money, but his decision was not directly related to her request. "I gave a valiant effort to see them through, constantly contacting the company to see if a new design was possible. However, it was not worth the time or money to pursue them in the long run," said Sparrow.
The SFC has spent a large amount of its discretionary funding, which Matsui believes played a role in Sparrow's actions and the SFC vote.
"My impression was that if the SFC allocated me most of [the remaining money] then there would be no money left for clubs," said Matsui. "I think Blake felt like he couldn't justify so much money for one or two things. I hope the money gets spent in ways that can have a greater impact on more people."