Last week, President Anthony Marx's announcement of the creation of the President's Interdisciplinary Initiative Fund raised concerns among student groups that the Initiative would detract from funding for student events that is allocated at the president's discretion. Marx, however, emphasized this week that the Initiative will not decrease the level of student funding from his office. It will allow him to pool funds that had typically gone unspent with normal discretionary funding to respond to faculty requests for funding in a systematic manner and encourage interdisciplinary curricular development.

"[My office] has and will continue to make funds available ... in recognition of the importance of a vital and diverse campus life for ... all at Amherst," he wrote in a letter to The Amherst Student.

Marx explained that in past years, the president's office has overspent its allocated budget by varying amounts, depending on the nature of the requests.

After reviewing the numbers, Marx determined that the budget was typically overspent by an average of 50 percent, a number he has chosen to target for overspending in future years. This means that the level of discretionary funding, which is allocated after his office's set budget has been exhausted, will be greater than in some years in the past and less than in others.

"[This Initiative] will allow the faculty in a more systematic way to go forward with curriculum experiments and initiatives that can inform the faculty's deliberations about what the curriculum should look like in the future," Marx said.

"It is an invitation to look at the manufacturing of knowledge and at the overall mission of our liberal arts College in ... unconventional ways. But are we-faculty and students-up for the challenge? Can we rethink what we do beyond traditional departmental lines?" asked Professor of Spanish Ilan Stavans.