CORRECTION APPENDED

The Undergraduate Council unanimously voted to approve the Social Grants Act, a pilot program that provides funding for events in social spaces in the Houses.

The plan, which would be fully implemented, in the 2009-2010 school year, aims to improve social life on campus by funding social events in House common spaces which may include alcohol as long as the event fulfills certain criteria, including that the grant applicant be 21 years old.

The program, termed the “UC Weekend Fund” will replace DAPA grants which fund food and non-alcoholic party supplies. DAPA grants are currently administered by the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Services, which is a division of the Harvard University Health Services. [SEE CORRECTION BELOW]

“We have enthusiasm from the administration about funding a more responsible proposal to support social life among 21 year olds,” said Andrea R. Flores ’10, president of the UC.

Events funded by the new program will be subject to a number of restrictions that attempt to limit the effect of additional social events on House resources. Only one party per “neighborhood” of Houses will be funded each weekend, and these must occur on Friday or Saturday nights. Alcohol in private suite parties will also not be funded.

“There was a major concern about money funding underage drinking in private settings, where it couldn’t be regulated or monitored,” said Student Affairs Committee chair Tamar Holoshitz ’10, referring to the UC’s party grant program that was discontinued last spring.

“The halt of the party fund was something that people said really affected the social life at Harvard,” Holoshitz said. With the new grant, the UC will retroactively fund food and alcohol at a 70 to 30 percent ratio. “This is not the party fund, but we’re looking for creative ways to address the concern about social life,” Holoshitz said.

The legislation allocates $600 to fund a trial program in up to three Houses during the final weekend before reading period, with the first applications due on Wednesday, April 29.

“This is significantly less than what the old Party Fund used to be,” Financial Committee Chair Sundeep S. Iyer ’11 said in response to concerns about the strain this plan would place on the Council’s budget in the next school year. “I don’t think restarting this program will threaten our financial solvency.”

The aim of the pilot is to test the program’s viability and see if the model can function next year.

Holoshitz said that because the program requires students to use House common spaces, House masters will have additional input in deciding whether grant funds can be used in the House.

“This solves those problems because we’re only funding events in locations that are publicly accessible and easily monitored. So there’s a strong parallel to HoCo stein clubs,” Holoshitz said.

But according to the current rules, only individuals, not House Committees are eligible to apply for the new grant. Individuals who are granted funds will also be provided with a “resource packet” that includes information about safe event planning, safe alcohol serving and information about sexual assault prevention.

“Everybody agrees that this needs to be about safety,” Holoshitz said.

The UC’s Executive Board will administer all aspects of the program, including selecting grant recipients and dispersing funds.

—Staff writer Brittany M. Llewellyn can be reached at bllewell@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION

The April 27 news article "Council Approves Social Grant Act" incorrectly stated that the UC Weekend Fund program will replace DAPA Grants. In fact, the new program will fund social events in addition to financial support from DAPA Grants, which the UC will take over funding for under a new name next year.