UC, HoCos Discuss Tailgate Funding

House Committees, the Undergraduate Council and the Yale College Council will be asked to contribute a total of $9,400 to fund the Harvard-Yale tailgate at Ohiri Field this year, according to a bill which will be put before the council this Sunday.

The council will request a contribution from each House Committee (HoCo) of at least $300 in cash and $150 of its Stein Club fund. Council Vice President Michael R. Blickstead ’05 said that the contribution is not optional.

“Dean Gross is writing a letter saying this is a mandatory thing,” he said.

The bill was presented during a round table discussion of HoCo chairs and council executives last night.

If the bill is passed, the council will give $2,000 and Yale will be asked to give $2,000, along with the requested $450 from each HoCo.

The costs will cover a tailgate barbecue, the police details from Harvard University Police Department and the Boston Police Department and “an undisclosed amount of beer,” said Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05.

Mahan reassured HoCo chairs that the undisclosed amount was more beer than they had planned to purchase previously and that a new distributor had been secured after United Liquors withdrew from negotiations in late October.

The additional costs for the tailgate exceeding the $9,400 will be covered by the College, said Blickstead.

“The College will be paying more than two times the amount we pay,” Blickstead said.

The bill also outlines a new plan of reimbursement for any extra beer which could be returned after the tailgate.

The first $1,000 will go to the council, and any additional refunds will be distributed equally among the HoCos. Yale students will not receive any refund.

Adams House HoCo Chair Joshua A Barro ’05 asked whether guests would be allowed into the tailgate after the original application for student group tailgates said that they would not.

Mahan said that anyone not currently enrolled in Harvard or Yale will be asked to buy a ticket if they wish to enter the tailgate area at Ohiri Field. The price of the tickets has not yet been determined.

In addition to the tailgate, the discussion also addressed the controversial HoCo funding bill passed by the council earlier this semester.

Under the bill, the council provides each HoCo up to $1,500 to fund Stein Clubs, campus parties and other events. After that initial allocation is spent, each HoCo can claim up to $2,000 through the grants fund, said Finance Committee Chair Teo P. Nicolais ’06.

Led by a representative from Leverett House, several HoCo chairs voiced concern that the HoCo allocation came late in the semester and left them scrambling to find ways to spend the money to which they are entitled.

Blickstead responded by apologizing for the delay, citing the council election cycle as the reason.

—Staff writer Joshua P. Rogers can be reached at jprogers@fas.harvard.edu.