Council To Subsidize Shuttles to Harvard-Yale Game

The Undergraduate Council voted to sell bus tickets to the Harvard-Yale Game for $25, or ten dollars below cost, at its meeting last night.

The council will also increase the total number of shuttles to a record 28 following a debacle two years ago that left students stranded for hours in the cold while waiting for buses.

“When we strand students in New Haven, they hate the UC,” council President Rohit Chopra ’04 said.

Shuttle tickets went for only $20 at the last Yale-hosted game, but shuttle prices have since increased.

The council estimates it will lose at least $10,000 by charging a round-trip price of $25.

“It’s worth spending money on student services that will enhance College life,” council vice president Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04 said.

The lower price is an effort to encourage more students to buy tickets and attend the Nov. 22 game.

“Having to pay for the game ticket, the shuttle ticket and for food makes it prohibitively expensive for some people,” Chopra said.

Council members said they were willing to take the financial hit because they thought attending the game is a central part of the Harvard experience.

“This is one of the most important social events during a student’s time at Harvard,” Student Activities Chair Matt W. Mahan ’05 said. “We’re trying to make it available to everyone.”

But a few council members said the $10,000 was too significant a loss to justify the low prices.

“Its great for students but the council will be in a financial bind,” council member Justin R. Chapa ’05 said.

“The UC is just hemorrhaging money,” added Financial Committee chair Joshua A. Barro ’05.

At the meeting, the council also announced the three students who will sit on the new student-faculty alcohol committee—Uronna N. Gaillard ’04, Javier A. Valle ’04 and Lacey R. Whitmire ’05—and voted to make six $100 grants available to College bands to help pay for their campus concerts.

—Staff writer Ebonie D. Hazle ’06 can be reached at hazle@fas.harvard.edu.