Unlocking the Bridging and Belonging Grant

While Harvard undergraduates shopped for classes during the first week of the semester, Undergraduate Council President Shaiba Rather ’17 and Vice President Daniel V. Banks ’17 have gotten their first taste of leading the Council. Between their previous UC experience and the platforms of their campaign, they appear ready to make tangible progress. We are confident that the pair we endorsed prior to November’s election is well-positioned to lead the UC for the year to come.

Throughout their campaign, Rather and Banks showed themselves to be a strong duo closely attuned to the pulse of the student body. Now, they have also presented three priorities—increasing funding for student groups, expanding administrative oversight of final clubs, and bolstering mental health resources on campus—all of which are important causes. Of the three, we are most excited by their first commitment: to reform the process of student groups applying for money via the UC's Bridging and Belonging grant.

Last year, under previous President Ava Nasrollahzadeh ’16 and Vice President Dhruv Goyal ’16, the administration approved a grant of $21,000—matched by the UC to total $42,000—to encourage collaborative events between different student groups as well as weekly community dinners for small groups of students at local restaurants. But as Rather and Banks pointed out in a recent interview with The Crimson, funding opportunities through the Bridging and Belonging grant have been significantly underutilized due to the extensive process needed to secure grant money and a lack of knowledge about the availability of the funds.

Rather and Banks thus plan to reduce the application requirements for funding from the UC’s finance committee in the hopes that more student groups will seek a portion of the funding available to them to host collaborative events. We are impressed to see this productive thinking on the part of Rather and Banks and sincerely hope that the administration supports this plan of action.

Beyond its obvious benefits for student groups, the plan to reform the Bridging and Belonging grant reflects the spirit of a campus in search of more equitable social spaces. “The time period in which we ran and in which we will serve is unbelievably different than when Ava and Dhruv took office,” Rather said. “That has shaped our entire platform and our goals for this year.” Indeed, the climate on campus these days is one of energetic social activism. In the past year, students have supported a range of movements from calls to change Harvard's sexual assault policy to an enthusiastic opposition to final clubs. Increasingly vocal and eager to effect change, Harvard students today more than ever could benefit from additional resources designed to bring Harvard’s diverse community together more effectively.

While we have certainly been impressed by Rather and Banks throughout the course of their campaign and the beginning of their administration, actions are more important than words. Their plan to increase the accessibility of the Bridging and Belonging grant is a great first step. In the future, we hope to see similarly innovative and ambitious thinking as the UC’s leaders craft actionable plans for change regarding mental health counseling and sexual assault policy on campus.

Too often, the UC’s perceived irrelevance comes from administrative inaction on the Council’s proposals. We believe that Rather and Banks have a plan in place that will show the administration that it should take the UC seriously and respect it as an agent of change speaking for students.