UC Asks Summers for More Funding

Undergraduate Council (UC) members pressed University President Lawrence H. Summers for increased funding for student groups and House Committees (HoCos) at a UC meeting last night.

Summers, who spent 70 minutes talking and responding to questions at the meeting, asked for a “guiding principle” from the UC and other student organizations that would justify more funding.

Summers said any increases in funding would have to come from cuts in funding for other projects or from increases in tuition.

“There aren’t any funds that aren’t going anywhere,” he said. “To provide [the UC] with an extra $100,000 would require raising tuition by about $35.”

Summers asked UC members to consider whether Harvard students would be willing to pay higher tuition in order to increase funding for student groups and HoCos.

When some members of the UC suggested that Harvard misrepresented its support of student groups to prospective applicants, Summers appeared agitated.

“If Harvard misrepresents anything, I’d want to know that,” he said.

He went on to explain that much of Harvard’s budget becomes a balancing act since many components of the University would like to have increased funding.

While Summers noted that funding for student groups and HoCos comes from the College, not the University, he said his office recently allocated $6.5 million toward new student social space in locations including Loker Commons and Lamont Library.

“I feel like I have made commitments that go way beyond normal growth,” he said.

Former Student Affairs Committee Chair Aaron D. Chadbourne ’06 expressed some frustration with the University’s support of student groups during the question-and-answer period with Summers, but said in an interview after the meeting that the funding was a positive step toward improving student life.

“The [money] from the President’s Office was an excellent start and will go a long way toward improving social space and experience at the College,” he said.

“I think that we began a constructive dialogue [this evening] on how to ensure that the need for clubs, student groups, and House Committees is being met,” Chadbourne added.

UC President Matthew J. Glazer ’06 said the discussion made Summers aware of the funding concerns of student groups and HoCos.

“I don’t think anyone expected President Summers to take out his checkbook and write out a check [this evening],” he said. “But I hope the President’s office continues to work closely with [the] council, College, and [Faculty of Arts and Sciences] administration to solve these problems.”

Glazer also added this was the longest question-and-answer period between Summers and UC members during Glazer’s four years with the UC.

“There are a lot of strains on the University’s budget, but I think the council did a good job of expressing the needs of student groups and HoCos that aren’t being met,” he said.

In other business, the UC allocated $4,000 to the First-Year Social Committee and passed the ninth grants package of the semester.

—Staff writer Brittney L. Moraski can be reached at bmoraski@fas.harvard.edu.