Deans Likely to Fund New Programming Board

College administrators have indicated that they would support a new undergraduate social programming board, but it is not yet clear where the board will find the money to fund campus-wide social events.

The proposed board passed its first hurdle at Sunday’s Undergraduate Council (UC) meeting, though it still faces review and approval from administrators.

And according to several administrators, the College seems eager to back and fund the new board.

The proposal—which was adopted by the council last night by a 37-0-1 vote—would cede responsibility for campus-wide social events to a programming board that would exist independently from the UC. Twelve representatives to the new board would be popularly elected, and the other six would be appointed by the existing members.

The UC endorsed the proposal in part because the council’s members—who are often focused on advocacy efforts—may not have the interest or the resources to plan large-scale social events.

While administrators have yet to say outright whether they will throw their support behind a social programming board, Campus Life Fellow Justin H. Haan ’05 said Sunday that he believed Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 would be receptive to the creation of a social programming board.

Gross has expressed support for the idea in the past. After the Harvard Concert Commission—a subsidiary of the UC—cancelled its planned fall concert because of insufficient ticket sales, Gross told the council in November that the “UC should give some consideration as to whether it should be in the campus life business.”

And yesterday, Gross wrote in an e-mail that the College is “certainly interested in supporting the programming board.”

“In the next few weeks, I will discuss with the UC how we can best do this.

I think the UC wants to use the term bill fee primarily to support student groups and the HoCos, so we will need to find additional means of support,” Gross wrote.

“Although I haven’t seen the details, I think it is a big step in the right direction, as the programming board will be able to plan campus-wide events much more effectively,” he added.

Despite Gross’ anticipated endorsements for a social programming board, questions remain on how the new board will be funded.

During last semester’s UC presidential election, then-UC President Matthew J. Glazer ’06 wrote an e-mail to the council’s open list saying that College administrators would not fund a programming board that was independent from the UC.

“It is not at all realistic to base a plan for social programming at Harvard on the assumption that Harvard would suddenly allocate $100,000 to $130,000 for social programming,” Glazer wrote in December.

Even before the UC’s vote on Sunday, College administrators had indicated their willingness to work with and fund a social programming board.

Assistant Dean of the College Paul J. McLoughlin II said last week that while the College did not “have a funding structure yet,” the programming board would “need to have a separate budget” from the UC.

McLoughlin said that the college would look at different funding options, including increasing the term bill fee or finding private donors.

In the wake of last semester’s cancelled concert, College administrators have increased their role in the planning of campus-wide events.

“There’s an understanding by the Dean’s Office that to throw events of a large scale for over 6,000 undergraduates requires substantial financial backing,” said Haan on Sunday.

Last week, the Dean’s Office announced its planned Yardfest concert featuring pop artist Ben Folds. In years past, the UC has been responsible for planning and organizing such events.

Administrators said that they are eager to cede their new role to a social programming board.

“In the long term, we would like to have [the planning] in the hands of students,” McLoughlin said last week. “I would feel much more comfortable if [this year’s Yardfest] was student run.”

Gross wrote yesterday in an e-mail that he would soon sit down with council leaders to discuss the board proposal.

—Staff writer Alexander D. Blankfein can be reached at ablankf@fas.harvard.edu.