Grant Denies Crimson Key Requested Funds

The Undergraduate Council (UC) approved their seventh grants package for the semester last night, declining to give the Crimson Key Society over $3,000 of the funds it requested.

Crimson Key Society president Kees A. Vandenberg ’06 was burglarized earlier this semester and $2,500 cash of money he had fronted for the club and member dues was taken from his room.

The UC voted to give the club $566.89 of the requested $3,894.68 due to concerns that meeting their request would set a precedent for funding student groups that hold events only before school begins.

“I think it’s consistent with what the finance committee agreed on,” said Jia “Jane” Fang ’08, chair of the UC finance committee. “It’s not within our policy just to fund things not within the semester it’s occurring. If we start funding Crimson Key, we set a precedent for funding all the freshman orientation activities.”

Fang added that reimbursement for Crimson Key should come from the Dean’s Office or Freshman Dean’s Office.

Fang also argued against the UC acting as an insurance company for student groups. “Just because a student group’s in the red doesn’t mean we should use students’ termbill money to save the,” she said.

“I felt like Crimson Key really does provide a valuable service to the freshman class,” said Samson F. Ayele ’09, second review chair of the finance committee.

Ayele was a supporter of the bill to suspend the bylaws and grant Crimson Key the money. He interviewed Vandenberg for the grant and was convinced that the group should get the money requested.

“I didn’t feel like what we did to them was the best possible outcome. I really hope they reapply,” Ayele said.

In response to the concerns expressed by Fang about the precedents that granting the Crimson Key money may set, he said that risk is “outweighed by [Crimson Key’s] service to the freshman class.”

“If this need for money is the result of a burglary, that’s unfortunate,” UC President Matthew J. Glazer ’06 said. “But I support the committee’s decision.”

The UC also discussed the First-Year Social Committee’s (FYSC) endorsement of Voith-Gadgil. Glazer ruled against committees or subsidiary bodies within the UC supporting political candidates. Three years ago the FYSC supported a candidate, but the move was never challenged.

“By my interpretation it is against the rules,” Glazer said. “If the members unanimously agree or publicize or are vocal about their thoughts, that’s fine.” But a group declaring itself as a UC-affiliated body cannot support a particular candidate, he said. “The UC won’t be up for grabs for lobbying or campaigning. I haven’t been in contact with FYSC about this specific issue but it cannot be considered an official endorsement,” Glazer added.

—Staff writer Katherine M. Gray can be reached at kmgray@fas.harvard.edu.