Council Will Refund Stranded Students

The Undergraduate Council will be providing reimbursements to students left behind by the 10 p.m. shuttle from Yale to Harvard on the Saturday following the Harvard-Yale game, council members said yesterday.

After the Harvard-Yale game, a number of students complained to the council following the confusion of its shuttles Saturday night, which left a group of students displaced.

Robert M. Gee ’02, the chair of the Campus Life Committee who served as coordinator of the council’s shuttles to Yale for the Game, made the suggestion of a refund, which was then approved by the council’s Executive Board.

The 10 p.m. shuttle departed early from Yale, leaving several students waiting in the cold until 2:30 a.m. to take another shuttle, scheduled to leave at 1:30 a.m., back to Cambridge. Others paid an additional sum for alternate forms of transportation back to Harvard.

“It was really cold and really awful,” said Maria S. Pedroza ’04. “I wasn’t as upset as others, but it was such an inconvenience.”

Gee said about 35 students are eligible for reimbursement of the $10 cost of the return trip. The council has a list of all persons who purchased its shuttle tickets, and plans to contact House representatives and inform students of the refund over the council’s e-mail list, Gee said. Those who are eligible will then be reimbursed on demand.

Gee said the council originally broke even, grossing about $20,400 through ticket sales for the 23 shuttles that transported Harvard students to and from Yale.

The council will take a loss with its reimbursements, however.

“Even if the eligible students are refunded, at most we lose a couple hundred dollars,” Gee said.

Council member and presidential candidate Ernani J. DeAraujo ’03 said he had wanted to address further problems reported by students involving the shuttles, but was satisfied with the council’s final plan.

“This seems to be the fairest approach, as well as making a general apology, and making sure this won’t happen again,” DeAraujo said.

Pedroza said she will “definitely take advantage of the offer.”

“I think people will appreciate the gesture,” she said.

Current council president Paul A. Gusmorino ’02 said that because the Game is at Yale every other year, the council is faced with the problem of institutional memory. Thus, he has called for the drafting of a complete assessment of this year’s shuttle service. The council hopes this report will ensure that transportation to and from future games will occur more smoothly, Gusmorino said.