New Party Grants Fund Alcohol Alternatives; Misuse of Money a Concern

Several Harvard parties this weekend featured more than the standard kegs, thanks in part to the debut of Drug and Alcohol Peer Advisor (DAPA) party grants. Ranging from $50 to $100, the grants funded food and nonalcoholic beverages to be served at social events.

The idea is to give students more options at parties and encourage safe drinking during “high-risk times,” according to DAPA Talya J. Brettler ’08. At least one DAPA-sponsored party this weekend was funded by the Undergraduate Council (UC), as well.

Unlike the UC party grants, however, the DAPA grants do not stipulate that the parties need to be widely publicized or open to the entire student body. The new program’s supporters said this was because of a concern for privacy, but the representative who oversees the UC’s party fund saw a possible pitfall in the policy.

“Because you are not making it open to everybody, you’re more able to keep money for yourself,” Margaret M. Wang ’09, party fund director for the UC Finance Committee, said of the new DAPA grants.

To address this potential problem, the DAPA program requires awardees to submit receipts before doling out grant money. And some parties were checked up on by DAPAs to ensure that funds were used properly, according to DAPA Katherine L. Sancken ’09, who dropped by an Irish pub party this weekend.

“We’re not here as enforcers. We just wanted to see that the grant was used properly,” she said.

While Sancken said DAPAs’ checking up on parties was “casual” and not assigned, the UC this semester abandoned a short-lived policy of visiting sponsored parties to make sure that they were adhering to UC party grant terms—including that the event provide some food and non-alcoholic beverages. FiCom Chair Zander N. Li ’08, also a Crimson editorial editor, said the change came because the UC now disbursed its party grants by reimbursing receipts, not paying up front.

The DAPA grant program was piloted during Harvard-Yale weekend, according to Director of the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Services Ryan M. Travia. He said that feedback from grant recipients indicated that the effort was successful and that students reported “increased satisfaction with food and beverages.”

The program is administered under the umbrella of University Health Services, and is funded by a grant from the Massachusetts Governor’s Highway Safety Office.

DAPA received 14 party applications and funded eight of them, Travia said. Sancken said they were chosen mainly on the basis of creativity.

Grant recipient Max A. Newman ’07 used his money to throw an Irish pub party featuring live musicians. A UC party grant awarded to the party’s co-host, Sophia P. Snyder ’07, paid for the alcohol.

“Usually I can’t buy as much food and non-alcoholic drinks,” Newman said. “A party is pretty lame when the focus is drinking alcohol and that’s it.”

—Staff writer Shoshana S. Tell can be reached at stell@fas.harvard.edu.