An Endowment for All

"The U.C. doesn't do anything." This has to be the single most common complaint about Harvard's student governing body, and one that I have encountered repeatedly when talking to fellow undergraduates. The widespread perception on campus is that we pay $20 so that a select group of students can further pad their resumes.

Yet, it is clear that the Undergraduate Council is anything but idle. The council grants over $80,000 a year to student groups. They run the annual Springfest, the First-Year Formal, shuttles to Yale for The Game and to the airport for break. But, pick up any copy of The Crimson and you are likely to find a general anti-council sentiment on campus, sometimes to an extreme degree.

So, why is the council so hated? The problem is that the council has not successfully executed the kind of campus life initiatives that many students desire. We have yet to see improvements to the MAC, cable TV in the dorms, a student center or the other fantasies that most Harvard students never expect to see. Are these improvements particularly extravagant? Not really. A student center is almost ubiquitous on college campuses. Cable TV is maybe a little extravagant, but it is still fairly common for college dorms to be wired for cable. Regardless, we want our student representatives to fight for these improvements, and they do, for the most part.

The inability to secure such "luxuries" is due solely to one factor. Not council apathy or laziness, not even council incompetence, but money, and the council's lack of it, is what will prevent us from getting our much needed dumbbells and Comedy Central.

We all know that the term bill, inevitably, will be raised. A term bill increase, however, will not solve the problem. This money will go to student groups and social events, both of which are certainly in desperate need of the cash. Unfortunately, this arrangement will leave no money for the student life initiatives that we all desperately want.

So, like any organization, the council needs to establish an operating budget and a separate capital budget. The term bill increase will help to keep the council's operating budget flowing. The funds for a capital budget need to come from a different source.

I propose that we set up an endowment for the Undergraduate Council.

In case there is any confusion, exactly $0 of Harvard's $19.2 billion endowment is earmarked for the council. Zero. I do not (necessarily) blame the Harvard administration for this. Much of the endowment is in the form of restricted funds. But, I still shudder when I hear that the Undergraduate Council of the richest university in the United States has to collect "ePloids" from Frito-Lay bags in order to replace its 10-year-old computer. Was I the only one who found it hard to swallow that the monitor on the council's computer required a paper clip to turn on?

My first suggestion is that we propose to the administration the idea of a council endowment and try to get them on board. Its seems that if we put a little effort into it, we could find a donor who would be willing to endow the council. We could even offer naming rights. Who cares if it is called the Al Gore '69 Undergraduate Council as long as we can watch "The Sopranos"? But, let's say the administration does not want to help us out (certainly not unheard of). That's okay--we're Harvard students, we're resourceful. The council should then set up a system for self-endowment. A $10 term bill charge (optional, of course) could bring in approximately $60,000 per year. Even after one cycle, the council would have the funds to buy a computer and improve the oft-used council sound system. After subsequent cycles, the effects on the power of the council would be enormous. Money gives an organization power. Power will get things done.

The administration could not help but take notice of such an effort. A self-endowment would demonstrate to the administration the kind of financial discipline and responsibility that they will respect. It will also show the administration that the undergraduate body is serious about pursuing student life initiatives.

In an ideal world, Harvard would have already picked up the tab for all the improvements that would so greatly improve student life. But I know that the students of Harvard are willing and able to work towards our goals, even without the support of the administration.

Geoffrey F. Reed '03 is a social studies concentrator in Eliot House. He is serving as campaign chairman for vice presidential candidate John F. Bash '03.