HUA Allocates More Than $17,000 to Student-Focused Initiatives

The Harvard Undergraduate Association allocated more than $17,000 at its general assembly meeting on Sunday to an inaugural “Impact” celebration and several other student-focused initiatives as the 2024-25 administration approaches the end of its term.

In by far the biggest expense, the group voted for $9,000 of its budget to fund an inaugural event titled “Impact” honoring accomplishments from the HUA, students, and faculty. The co-presidents said that further details for the event, including the date and venue, have yet to be determined.

“We’re envisioning this moment as an event where we can bring together people from all aspects of our campus to come together and celebrate the work that has been done,” Co-President Jonathan Haileselassie ’26 said. “Not only at the HUA, but all the different student organizations, all the individual efforts that students have made this past year.”

The $9,000 allocated was described as a “ceiling” amount pulled from the Executive, Extracurricular, and Sports Teams budget, which the co-presidents said still have “available money.”

The HUA also voted to allocate $800 toward the food and venue for a “community conversation” event, intended to provide a space for students to express “a lot of different feelings” about current world events. Additionally, the co-presidents said they hope to relay what they hear at this event to administrators to “ensure that administrators are helping to meet students’ needs.”

“We want to make sure that students have a space to digest, converse, and express themselves in terms of how they’re feeling to all those new changes that are happening on campus and outside of campus,” Haileselassie said.

At Sunday’s meeting, the body also approved a series of budgetary proposals aiming to support student activities, events, and well-being.

The largest vote in this category was $3,000 of funding from the Extracurricular Team for the Crimson Cohesion fund, which sponsors student organization events for more than 200 people. Additionally, the Social Life Team allocated $1,5oo for the Fun Fund, which sponsors student outings of three to 10 people, and $1,000 from the Well-Being Team to support undergraduate club events deemed to support inclusion or well-being.

Academic Team Officer Matthew R. Tobin ’27 and Co-Directors of Advocacy Joshua T. Eneji ’28 and Vanessa C. Iwuoha ’26 also presented a new advocacy “questionnaire” gauging opinion on timing of school breaks, pass-fail GenEds, and double secondaries to collect data that the HUA will then present to administrators.

“As the HUA works on one of its main missions, which is advocacy, a question that we frequently get from administrators is, ‘Do you have data on this? Do you know how many students actually support this?,’” Tobin said. “This is a way of getting some solid data on initiatives that the HUA has been working on and will continue working on in the future.”

The HUA also allocated $1,000 from the Executive Team budget to partner with the Harvard Foundation for this week’s Cultural Rhythms Food Festival, at which various Harvard organizations will provide cultural food for students to try.

From the Social Life Team budget, $1,000 was allocated for a freshman enhanced brain break to occur before the end of spring term. The HUA also allocated $1,000 from the Well-Being Team for the Helping Hands Fund, a grant for student organizations hosting events to improve inclusion on campus.

All allocated funding must be spent before April 20, the officers said, when the current HUA administration transfers powers to its successors. Voting for the 2025-26 HUA administration opens on Wednesday.

—Staff writer Nina A. Ejindu can be reached at nina.ejindu@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @nina_ejindu.

—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at claire.simon@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.