After Fight, UC Backs Down on Alcohol

The Undergraduate Council will no longer reimburse the purchase of alcohol for dorm room parties this semester, Interim Dean of the College David R. Pilbeam and Undergraduate Council President Ryan A. Petersen ’08 announced yesterday.

“We are pleased to announce that the Office of the Dean of Harvard College and the Undergraduate Council (UC) have resolved the issues surrounding the UC Party Fund while ensuring that campus social life remains both vibrant and responsible,” said the joint statement e-mailed to students yesterday morning.

The agreement seems to mark a victory for Pilbeam and the administration, as the funding of alcohol—and the potential for underage drinking—was one of the central concerns that led Pilbeam to terminate the program initially.

“I don’t claim that it’s in any way perfect but it’s the best deal that we had available,” Petersen wrote in an e-mail sent over the UC’s open list late yesterday afternoon.

“In the meantime, the council can’t function without its money, and the process soon to be formalized will guarantee that funds can never be withheld again on any issue so the agreement has produced a long term resolution to avoid that crisis ever again.”

The agreement stipulates that recipients will no longer be permitted to use grants to purchase alcohol, but the money may now instead cover the costs of other party-related expenses.

The issue will be re-visited at the beginning of next semester, at which point the UC and the administration expect to have a new arbitration mechanism in place to negotiate conflicts between them.

Petersen announced the resolution at the UC’s meeting on Sunday night, but in an interview with The Crimson early Monday afternoon, Pilbeam said no agreement had yet been reached.

Pilbeam said yesterday that the compromise was finalized later that day.

As part of the resolution, the administration pledged to fund 10 Beverage Authorization Teams each semester that the UC can allocate to student group and House Committee events.

Pilbeam and Petersen also said in the joint statement that they will recommend a review of the UC’s role within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

—Staff writer Victoria B. Kabak can be reached at vkabak@fas.harvard.edu.