College To Fund Dry On-Campus Parties

Student group leaders scurrying to file their Undergraduate Council common grant applications will find a new option geared towards campus-wide, dry events like the Leverett ’80s Dance.

The College administration recently changed the rules governing the $25,000 Student Activities Fund grant so it will now be wholly dedicated to funding events which do not serve alcohol and are open to the entire College.

The fund originally supported council funding of a wide variety of undergraduate student group projects.

“It may have funded anything from a conference on international health to putting on a show,” said council President Rohit Chopra ’04.

The revised fund will now benefit students more because previously the money was spread too thin among its many applicants, he said.

“People would request 400 dollars and get 30,” Chopra said.

Now that the fund will only pay for campus-wide events, fewer groups will receive the funds.

“I’m glad that the College is redirecting its funds towards larger, high-impact events. Previously, the fund only marginally funded groups with $25 or $50 but this change will channel more resources to events like the Leverett ’80s dance or parties thrown by organizations like the BSA that draw hundreds of people,” Student Affairs Committee Vice-Chair Sheila R. Adams ’05 wrote in an e-mail.

Chopra pointed out that fund’s non-alcoholic and the campus-wide stipulations were almost redundant.

“There are no campus-wide alcoholic events,” he said.

Previously filed applications will not be considered for the grant unless the old applications meet the new restrictions.

The first of five deadlines for applying for the grant is Nov. 11. Applications will be considered during the council’s Committee on College Life meetings.

Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 has set up a committee to examine alcohol on campus, and has expressed interest in increasing the number of non-alcoholic social events on campus.

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