According to Zachary, the University of Pennsylvania imposes certain limits on the type of stunts the cheerleaders are allowed to perform for safety reasons.

Wentzell said Boston University and Duke University prevent their cheerleading teams from performing potentially dangerous jumps and stunts as well.

But Princeton University does not prohibit its cheerleading from performing any stunts or jumps.

"We're nor really limited on the degree of anything that we do," said Kacey A. Guy, a cheerleader at Princeton.

Sufficient funding provides an obstacle to hiring a coach for the Harvard team.

"It's important to have a coach if we can," Wentzell said. "If it's $5,000, that will be trouble. If it's $500, we can explore it."

Epps said the College gave the team $500 to help hire a coach.

Wentzel said his office provides a small amount of funding for the cheerleading team, but they raise most of their funds on their own.

The teams at Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and Brown also use fundraising to gather funds. Most of the teams pay the salaries of their coaches without help from the athletic department.

"We get a minimal amount of funding [from the university], but it's not substantial," said Elizabeth C. Lemond, a student at Brown who was a cheerleader last year.

At all of these universities, cheerleading is considered a club sport and not considered at the same level as varsity athletics