The University of North Florida Student Government has approved a budget of $110,000 for an August comedy show.

At the June 14 Senate meeting, Student Body President Michael Barcal presented a special request to the Senate for additional funding for an on-campus comedy show in the fall.

“This is a huge initiative that not only myself has been working on, but also [Vice President] Ashlyn [Davidson] and [Senate President] Audrey [McGrath] as well. It’s a really collaborative effort,” he said.

Barcal did not comment on who the guest comedian would be due to concerns over scheduling and inflated booking costs but implied it would be a well-known comedian. 

“The contract is still on the way right now, so we cannot announce who it is,” Barcal said. “It’s the same level as OzFest in that aspect, but it’s going to be somebody you guys know.” 

Barcal also compared it to last year’s comedy show featuring Eric Andre and said students could expect this year’s to be similar.

“This happened for the first time last year and was a huge success. It helped pioneer the way for many more student engagement efforts that happened at our university as a whole,” he said.

Some members of SG wondered if the timing of the event was too early into the fall semester. 

“The only thing I fear is that it might just be so early into the semester,” said Senator Zachary Quinn. “I guess that’s the whole point of getting these kids into our community. I just stress that it’s too early into August.”

However, Senators were excited about the event despite the timing concerns.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem because last year it was also pretty early into the semester, and it had a really good turnout,” said Senator Valentina Bonilla.

According to Barcal, the $110,000 budget is a lump sum, and any funds not spent on the event will go back into SG’s fund balance.

The Senate approved the budget unanimously, 15-0.

The show will be on August 23 at 7 p.m. at the Lazzara Performance Hall.