Senator Edward M. Kennedy '54 will donate $200 to help fly the Harvard Rugby Football Club to the national intercollegiate rugby championships in Monterey, Calif, this weekend, according to rugby club officers.

The Senator's contribution is the first confirmed gift in the club's drive to raise the $10,000 they need to finance the trip.

Kennedy's donation is the first solid commitment the club has received in its drive so far, according to Charles S. Weeks '85, president of the rugby club. Although the club still needs $8500 by Thursday to pay for its flight that evening. Weeks said, "I'm very optimistic that we'll get out there for the championships."

But rugby player David J. Heffernan '84 saw the situation more bleakly, calling the Senator's contribution "a drop in the bucket."

Kennedy, who was a Harvard rugby captain, has contributed money to the rugby club several times in the part. Weeks said that he hoped the Senator's donation would send a message to other rugby alumni that the club needs their support.

Weeks added that the University might be able to provide limited funding by mediating a bank loan that team members could repay over the summer.

The University is unlikely to fund the rugby team directly because it is a club, not a varsity team. Ordinarily, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) finances travel expenses to national championship events, but rugby is not an NCAA sport.

Shortage

The club had requested some funding from the Undergraduate Council, but the council refused to vote on the proposal, citing procedural difficulties.

But, the rugby team of Long Beach State College, which will also compete in the finals, is receiving $1000 from its Student Body Association to finance the trek to Monterrey, according to Dr. Dale Toohey, the team's coach.

The Harvard rugby club captured a place in the Final Four competition with its victory over Virginia Tech in the Eastern finals last Sunday.