UC Leaders Propose Sponsorship for Public Service Internships to Khurana

Undergraduate Council President Ava Nasrollahzadeh ’16 and UC Vice President Dhruv P. Goyal ’16 proposed a funding initiative to sponsor students pursuing public service opportunities to Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana in a meeting Friday.

Nasrollahzadeh and Goyal said in an interview that they are concerned that students of lower-income backgrounds are discouraged from seeking summer internships in the public sector, which are often unpaid, and instead gear their interests toward private sector opportunities with potentially more lucrative compensation.

Nasrollahzadeh said that students can face additional expenses, including apartment rental fees, relocation necessities, and travel, that worsen the burden for students with more limited means.

“Whether that comes from the College, whether that comes from OCS money, or whether that comes from a totally private donor, that still needs to be discussed, but it’s a definite priority,” Nasrollahzadeh said.

According to Goyal, Khurana was supportive of the initiative, which the pair designed to emulate Duke University’s “DukeEngage.” Duke’s program, launched in 2007 with two $15 million gifts from the university’s endowment and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, annually provides financial support to about 435 undergraduates participating in immersive community service opportunities.

At Harvard, aside from OCS, the Institute of Politics also allocates grant money to undergraduates in low-paying or unpaid public service internships through its Summer Stipend Program, which specifically takes into account students’ financial needs. In addition, the IOP organizes the Director’s Internship program, which supports selected students with a $4,000 stipend.

Last November, Nasrollahzadeh and Goyal ran on a ticket that advocated for more engagement with alumni, and since the start of their term, they have created an alumni advisory network to connect with alumni that served on the UC, a network that they want to leverage for the funding endeavor.

“We’re essentially trying to tie the alumni funding aspect to public service initiatives,” Goyal said. Goyal proposed that alumni donations go toward the summer internship fund.

In addition, the duo plans to hold a town hall forum open to all undergraduates with Khurana and University President Drew G. Faust later this semester. Nasrollahzadeh and Goyal believe that the town hall forum will make the administrators more accessible to students and enable them to ask about larger issues.

—Staff writer Jalin P. Cunningham can be reached at jalincunningham@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @JalinCunningham.