After Pilots, SIP Fund Reviewed

After successfully supporting two pilot parties this past month, the Undergraduate Council’s Student Initiated Programs Fund is under review before submission for final approval this summer.

The program, which funds medium-sized parties in the College’s undergraduate Houses and allots some funding for alcohol service, piloted two parties hosted in Quincy and Pforzheimer Houses. The events cost the UC about $400 apiece, though reimbursements have yet to be made, according to Mallika Khandelwal ’11, chair of the UC Student Initiatives Committee.

Ling Lin ’12 and Ryan K. Schell ’11, who both helped host the parties, said the events drew around 100 and 30 attendees, respectively. Khandelwal added that she was pleased with the turnout, but noted that changes will be made before the final proposal arrives on Dean of the College Evelynn M. Hammonds’ desk this summer.

Among the tweaks considered for the proposal’s review is a reduction in the amount of supervision at SIP-sponsored parties, Khandelwal said. The two pilot parties each had around five Senior Common Room members present, in addition to a Beverage Authorization Team and a Harvard University Police Department officer, according to Khandelwal and Schell.

“It was really excessive to have that many adults standing at the door,” Khandelwal said.

She added that the SIC is considering allowing some e-mail promotion over House lists as opposed to the current prohibition on advertising parties over public channels of communication.

Quincy House Master Deborah J. Gehrke said that the grant approval process ought to be streamlined. Based on his experiences, Schell echoed that sentiment, emphasizing that fewer people should be involved in the process.

According to Schell, while trying to secure a SIP grant, he faced a panel of more than 10 UC representatives in the Quincy Dining Hall, who asked him questions about the implementation of his proposal.

But Schell, a co-chair of the Pforzheimer House Committee, said he did not mind the initial kinks if it means he has helped the program get off the ground.

“I really like the idea of UC-funded parties,” Schell said. “It helps us have a little more flexibility in the parties we can throw, and it empowers students who aren’t a part of HoCo to throw House-wide events.”

Lin, a Crimson business editor who co-hosted the “healthy eating and healthy drinking”-themed event in the Quincy JCR, called the application process “fast and painless.” When speaking with the Quincy House Masters, Lin said she hoped the program would continue.

“I told them that I really enjoyed that they supported student-initiated programming and throwing events in the House and in public spaces,” she said. “I hope they do it more in the future—but with less supervision so it can be more relaxed.”

—Danielle J. Kolin contributed to the reporting of this article.

—Staff writer Naveen N. Srivatsa can be reached at srivatsa@fas.harvard.edu.