UC Outlines Grant Program for Student Initiatives

Undergraduate Council leaders outlined plans on Monday for a new pilot program, called “The Harvard Project,” that will award grants to a student initiative proposing a solution to a campus problem. The Council formally endorsed the project at its general meeting on Monday.

Through the project, the Council will award $3,000 to one initiative proposed by an undergraduate student or group of students. Proposed initiatives should serve the College student body under a broader aspect of student life, such as sustainability, according to legislation that endorsed the project.

The Council’s Student Initiatives Committee, led by Chair Daniel V. Banks ’17 and Vice Chair Shaiba Rather ’17, will oversee the project alongside faculty liaison Stephanie R. Khurana, who is co-master of Cabot House.

According to Rather, potential initiatives already proposed by students include creating a more cost-effective pre-orientation program for freshmen and establishing a student-run bakery similar to Cabot Cafe. The legislation detailing the project urged students to come forward with feasible solutions to campus problems, saying that “to say Harvard is perfect would be to undermine our capacity and potential for change.”

“Essentially, what we’re trying to do is promote people to reflect on their Harvard experience, and to do something about it,” Rather said.

The UC’s Student Initiatives Committee will be closely monitoring the execution of the project that the Council chooses to fund, according to Rather, who said this “watchdog” aspect of the program will help it succeed.

Also at Monday’s meeting, UC President Ava Nasrollahzadeh ’16 and UC Vice President Dhruv P. Goyal ’16 told Council members that they will replenish the Student Relations Committee’s budget after some of its money was used to fund the launch event for the Council’s gender equity campaign, “Side by Side.”

At the UC’s meeting on March 1, several representatives argued that allocating $650 from the Student Relations Committee to the campaign’s launch event was an inappropriate use of Council funds.

The Council gave the Student Relations Committee an additional $650 from its “Bridging and Belonging” grant, which totals $21,000 provided by administrators and the Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisors.

In other business, Nasrollahzadeh and Goyal urged representatives to publicize Ventfull, a smartphone application and events calendar that the UC paid to bring to Harvard in February. If the app is not populated by 30 percent of the College student body by the end of the semester, they said, it risks losing support and sponsorship from administrators.

Several representatives suggested publicizing the calendar to incoming freshmen from the class of 2019, as well as students serving as hosts for Visitas, the College’s upcoming visiting program for admitted students. They acknowledged, however, that prospective students cannot sign up because they do not have Harvard email accounts.

The Council will host an open forum with University President Drew G. Faust and Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana on Tuesday. It will be open to all undergraduates.

—Staff writer Jalin P. Cunningham can be reached at jalin.cunningham@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @JalinCunningham.