UC Passes Final Grants Package

The Undergraduate Council (UC) passed its final grants package of the semester and appointed a technology coordinator in a brief hour-long meeting last night.

The council’s 10th grants package allocated $15,437 to 64 campus organizations, including $290 to the Asian Baptist Student Koinonia for Friday night bible study.

In late November, the council voted to suspend its bylaws and award a grant to the Asian American Christian Fellowship (AACF) despite the group’s constitution, which stipulates that its executive board members be Christian. In the past, the council has not awarded grants to organizations that impose restrictions on its members.

According to UC President Matthew J. Glazer ’06, Koinonia does not have such stipulations.

“As far as I understand, only the AACF and the [Harvard Radcliffe Christian Fellowship] have stipulations in their constitutions that restrict who can be on their executive boards,” Glazer said. “In terms of the Koinonia, I don’t think they had any restrictions.”

The UC’s Finance Committee reviewed almost 800 applications and awarded $119,518, or 43 percent of the grants budget.

The council also appointed a technology coordinator. Chrix E. Finne ’07, a newly elected representative from Quincy House, will oversee the council’s website and voting software.

“Since 2002, there have been perceived glitches with the UC [voting] software,” said Glazer. “Whenever there was a switch in a student’s location, the software was too rigid and it wouldn’t allow them to vote.”

Glazer said that during the presidential and vice presidential elections, the voting system had trouble registering freshmen in Claverly Hall until Faculty of Arts and Sciences Computer Services was able to resolve the issue.

“We needed to get [them] to manipulate the code to allow them to vote,” said Glazer. “We looked into the software, and it is very complex, but [functional]. Now we can do it ourselves.”

As technology coordinator, Finne will now oversee the voting system as well as other aspects of the website.

—Staff writer Alexander D. Blankfein can be reached at ablankf@fas.harvard.edu.