College Unfreezes Council Funds

The College turned over $100,000 to the Undergraduate Council yesterday, UC President Ryan A. Petersen ’08 said, in an apparent reversal of the administration’s decision two weeks ago to withhold funds from the council.

There was no confirmation of the move from the College, and administrators did not return requests for comment after Petersen made the move public yesterday evening.

According to Petersen, the College’s decision to cut the UC a $100,000 check came as a signal of “good faith” resulting from negotiations between him and Interim Dean of the College David R. Pilbeam.

The UC usually gets eight or nine $50,000 checks a year from the administration, paid for by the optional $75 Undergraduate Council fee on student termbills. That cash stopped flowing when the UC refused to comply with an administration request that it end its program funding dorm room parties.

But yesterday Petersen said that Pilbeam authorized the release of the funds without restrictions on their use. He said that while the UC plans to continue to distribute party grants, the council will not use any part of the $100,000 for grants. Instead, the UC will continue to use funds left over from previous years, as it has done for the last two weeks.

“The disbursement occurred as result of the good faith generated by the progress of negotiations with Dean Pilbeam regarding the Party Fund and the autonomy of the UC,” Petersen wrote in an e-mail to the council last night.

Petersen said that he and Pilbeam had been in private negotiations over UC funds since Pilbeam announced the termination of the UC party grant program on Oct. 2.

After the UC decided to continue its party grant system in spite of the directive, the College froze the council’s funds.

It is unclear how the still-contentious party grant issue will be resolved. Petersen said that despite yesterday’s move, discussions were ongoing and several issues had yet to be settled. He declined to elaborate on what issues were being discussed other than the party grant program.

But council leaders yesterday hinted at the possibility of changes to the program.

“There is the potential for the alteration of distribution or policies of the party fund as a result of these negotiations,” Petersen said.

Student Affairs Committee Chair Michael R. Ragalie ’08 also expressed a new hope for a solution.

“The fact that Dean Pilbeam was willing to release that money shows that both sides are really concerned with finding an amenable solution,” he said.

At the time of his decision, Pilbeam cited the UC’s insufficient regulation of underage drinking at parties and overcrowding in suites as the primary reasons for terminating the grants.

—Staff writer Aditi Banga can be reached at abanga@fas.harvard.edu.

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