Harvard is fond of telling prospective students that if there is not already an organization that fits their interests, they can easily start one that does.

A lot of students have taken Harvard up on its offer.

Over the past 15 years, the number of student groups on campus has ballooned from 90 in 1980 to more than 240 this year. Thirty-five new groups have been founded in the `90s alone.

The reasons for this expansion are unclear: some cite the initiation of Council term-bill fees for student group funding; others cite a decline in House life resulting from randomization.

But whatever the reason for this tremendous growth, Harvard's resources for extracurricular activities have not kept pace.

As Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 points out, the Council fee of $20 has not increased with inflation or the growth of these activities. Officers say that the council's grants, which average $250 per group, do not come close to meeting the funding needs of most organizations.

In extreme cases, students have had to fund themselves out of their own pockets or miss national competitions because of a lack of traveling money.

"The U.C. provides us with some funding, but it's not enough to cover even our initial registration fees," says Thomas G. Saunders '00, co-president of the Mock Trial Team and Pre-Law Society.

Equally important is a shortage of space, as the College can currently provide space for less than a third of student groups, with more than a dozen on a waiting list.

Student leaders say that functioning without an office in which to store a phone, computer and fax machine, can make it difficult to effectively run a serious organization.

College administrators have recognized these problems and have begun to seek and implement solutions, but students say that without significant changes, their groups will be left fighting for grants and struggling for desks to call their own.

Living Within Limits

Some student leaders say that limits on student group funding have prevented their organizations from reaching full potential--an assessment shared by the group providing the majority of the funding.

The Undergraduate Council provides 67.1 percent of student group funding (excluding public service grants), but Council President Beth A. Stewart '00 says her group can provide only a small fraction of the resources groups deserve.

"We...fund a maximum of one third" of need, Stewart says. "We only fund student groups who have no money or are running deficits, and even the groups we do fund we only fund at [about] one third of their grant request."

Since financially solvent groups are generally ineligible for council funds, even groups that sell ads or engage in other fundraising activities often have their purse strings pulled tight.

Facing mounting expenses and inadequate funding, Diversity and Distinction, a student magazine that raises money primarily through movie showings and advertising, was unable to print enough copies to give one to each dorm room, as it had in the past.

While editors say the situation has improved under a new business manager, earlier this year editors and friends of the magazine spent several thousand dollars of their own money to maintain the publication.

According to former editor-in-chief Jia-Rui Chong '98, the magazine has also had to shorten its issues because of financial constraints.

"I'd say Diversity and Distinction is more important on this campus today than it ever has been. It's a shame that money is the only factor preventing us from putting out a larger, better publication," says Geoffrey A. Fowler '00, editor-in-chief of Diversity and Distinction and a Crimson executive.

Larger groups on campus also often feel the pinch of meager resources.

With a membership of more than 1,200, the Asian American Association (AAA) is one of the largest groups on campus. Yet even with funding from the council and the Harvard Foundation, group leaders say they are far from fully-funded.

"Financially, we are strapped," says Caroline T. Nguyen '00, co-president of AAA and also a Crimson editor. "We find ourselves very limited in the events we want to throw."

Project H.E.A.L.T.H., a community service group that combines public service with discussions of public policy, has also encountered difficulties funding their programs.

When starting up in 1996, the organization applied for funding from the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) and the College Administration, but was turned down by both.

They were only able to run their program by soliciting funds from outside the College, according to Project H.E.A.L.T.H. founder Rebecca D. Onie '97-'98.

The group has now grown to include over 100 people and 12 programs.

Onie says the present state of College funding makes it hard for an ambitious new program to get its foot in the door.

"It's obvious that there would be no way for a serious student group to exist under the support of the administration through the U.C. [alone]," she says.

And when newly founded groups do not fall under a traditional student group category (like athletic, artistic, cultural or ethnic), participants say survival is all the more difficult.

According to Lauren A. Wetzler '00, the other co-president of the Mock Trial Team and Pre-Law Society, insufficient funding is a constant source of concern for the team, which was forced to forego an important national tournament for which it had qualified.

After qualifying for the Silver Nationals tournament last year, Wetzler says it was obvious the team could not afford the transportation, accommodation and registration expenses associated with the competition in Minnesota.

She says the group's $500 in council funding--while well-appreciated--"doesn't...come close to funding" even the registration fees of smaller-scale competitions during the year.

In extensive meetings with Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, Wetzler says Epps advised the group to develop an alumni base from which to solicit funds. But Wetzler says the suggestion that a brand new group solicit funds from alumni is virtually impossible.

"It's a catch-22," she says. "It is particularly difficult for new teams like ours to start off."

College officials acknowledge that funds for student groups are insufficient.

"I do think that there are many student organizations and events that could constructively use more funding than they receive," writes Lewis in an e-mail message.

"The array of publications, performances, conferences, etc. that are sponsored by student groups, including new ones arising every year, is a source of pride for the College and a vehicle for education outside the classroom that is important to what students learn here," he writes.

But though everyone seems to agree that student groups deserve more funding, there is little consensus regarding where the funds should come from.

Funding: At What Price?

In a proposal issued to the College Administration this semester, Stewart recommended establishing an endowment of $2 million. The interest from this endowment would be used to fund student groups.

The plan arose in part because a survey showed that the most direct way of increasing student funding--raising term bill fees--was supported by only 44 percent of students.

Considering that "previous requests to the Administration had absolutely failed," Stewart says that "we had no choice but to raise the money ourselves" from alumni and other outside sources.

But soon after Stewart asked the Administration for permission to solicit alumni for donations for the endowment, Lewis proposed an alternate plan: $25,000 a year of direct University funding for groups.

Under the plan, groups will be able to apply for grants of $500 from the new fund, in addition to the average council grants of $250.

Whereas funds from a council endowment plan would have been distributed by the council itself, Lewis' plan will shift control of the additional funds to a committee made up of both council members and administrators and chaired by Epps and Student Activities Coordinator Susan Cooke.

After consideration of Lewis' proposal, Stewart agreed to put her idea of a private council endowment on hold.

Instead, Stewart says she will try to supplement the additional funds by forming an endowment based on money donated by former council members, since University permission is not required to solicit gifts from a group's own alumni.

No Strings Attached?

Although Lewis' plan will make the University a bigger player in the distribution of group funds, Stewart says she is not concerned that the council will lose autonomy.

She says the Lewis plan starts where the council leaves off, funding groups based on merit rather than need.

Since Lewis' proposal will not take any money away from the council, it will not diminish the council's ability to fund groups as it sees fit, she says.

And, according to Stewart, even if the Lewis plan did diminish autonomy, the additional funding to student groups would be worth the price.

But though Stewart praises Lewis' grant plan, total disbursements for extracurriculars--even with the new funds--will still be well under the $300,000 which Stewart says student groups need.

Nevertheless, according to Stewart, Lewis' plan has the advantage of benefiting student groups immediately, unlike an endowment plan which might have taken many years before it paid off at a similar level.

"We knew it would take several years before the money started pouring in, so students now would suffer in those years when we were getting the endowment started," she says.

Stewart predicts that the new grants committeewill be flooded with applications for funding nextfall, and hopes that it will respond by boostinggrant funds even more.

Although the new grants are unlikely to meetevery group's need, student leaders say they arepleased by the increase in funding.

"We were really, really excited to find outabout this option," Wetzler says. "There are sofew outlets for teams like ours and we're hopingthat this is a source of funding we can tap into."

But while praising the proposal, some studentssay it is long overdue.

"Given Harvard's resources, it's verysurprising how little has been given to studentgroups," Onie says.

Former President of the Hippocratic ClubAkilesh Palanisamy '98, who had to rely on outsidefunding to keep his group alive, agrees that theCollege should continue increasing funding forstudent groups.

"I refuse to believe that Harvard doesn't havemore money available in its large pool ofresources to give to student groups," he says.

Room for Improvement

For many organizations, however, the need formoney is overshadowed by the need for meetingspace.

Some groups say that scheduling meeting spaceand being able to use it is frequently achallenge.

According to Gaurav A. Upadhyay '00,co-president of the South Asian Association (SAA),on several occasions the SAA has scheduled meetingspace in advance only to find the reservationcanceled at the last minute.

Upadhyay says the worst instance of thisoccurred when the College canceled SAA's spacereservations just two weeks before the group's"Shades of Brown" conference. Upadhyay says thegroup had reserved meeting spaces for theconference three months in advance.

"We've had a number of problems when it comesto finding and keeping spaces for our events," hesays.

When it comes to securing office space, groupsfare no better.

According to a report issued by the Dean ofStudents' Office, the College provides on-campusoffice space for only 27 percent of studentgroups.

Many group leaders say not having office spacehampers their ability to effectively run theirorganizations.

Chong, for example, says she was forced to runDiversity and Distinction "out of two dorm roomsand archives under my bed."

Lacking an office or permanent meeting space,Chong says, undermines the legitimacy of theorganization, making it hard to raise funds andattract members.

"You want to sell advertisements to businesses,but you don't want them to call your dorm room,"she says.

Chong also notes that without office space forstorage, publications are often forced to have theprinted copies of their work delivered to commonareas of the Houses, where they lie unprotectedand vulnerable to damage and theft.

"One time, we left [our latest issue] at theLeverett superintendent's office a little toolong, and people threw it in the recycling bin,"she says. "We had to go fish it out, which wasn'ttoo fun."

In addition, student leaders who planconferences and other events say that lack ofoffice space makes their jobs unnecessarilydifficult.

"We've been putting on a lot of large events[in the Hippocratic Society]," Palanisamy says."But its difficult to coordinate phone calls. Acentral phone line, or perhaps a computer and afax machine, would make a big difference."

Acknowledging a Void

But while College officials acknowledge thatoffices would be very useful for many groups, theysay there simply is not enough space toaccommodate every request.

"It's evident that there's a lack of space forall of those groups who would benefit from theirown office space," student coordinator Cooke says.

Cooke says the Dean of Students Office does itsbest to accommodate groups, by providing them withoffice space and rooms for meetings wheneverpossible.

In analyzing a group's request for officespace, Cooke says she considers its demonstratedneed, whether alternative space arrangements wouldsuit the group's needs, and also the group'sposition on a waiting list that she maintains.

Cooke says about 13 groups are currently on herwaiting list for office space.

But while she tries hard to make the most outof the available space, Cooke says studentsthemselves must also make some sacrifices bysharing office space and using the University'sdepository facilities for storage.

"I think it can work very well if space isshared," Cooke says.

Although some group leaders agree that sharingof space may be a solution to this problem, theysay existing offices are already cramped.

Upadhyay says the SAA office, which it shareswith AAA in the basement of Thayer Hall, is"really crowded, and you can't find anything inthat room."

Nguyen says AAA could use a larger office tohouse the group's resources more effectively.

"If we had a bigger office space which we coulduse for office hours, where we could put a phoneand a computer, where we could store all of ourstuff, it would be very good," she says. "Rightnow, we can't even walk."

But Cooke says that not all groups needtraditional office space. She says the 36 lockersfor group storage in Loker Commons offer somegroups a "movable office" which, in conjunctionwith the adjacent seminar rooms, can serve theneeds of some groups.

Cooke says there is a plan in the works toduplicate this locker system in the basement ofHarvard Hall.

Give Me Some Space

Despite the College's best attempts atstretching the existing supply of space to meet anever-increasing demand, many student leaders feelit needs to do more.

Many students, including Upadhyay, haveadvocated the construction of a new multiculturalcenter to provide a home for ethnic and culturalgroups.

Stewart suggests that even if theadministration rejects the idea of a multiculturalcenter, it should consider creating space forgroups in one way or another.

"I think on a very superficial level, there arebasements that can always be renovated," she says."[But] the fact is, Harvard has to accept theinevitable conclusion that it will have to build astudent center."

Without a new building, she says, "No matterhow many basements we renovate, no matter how manypartitions we put up, we'll never be able to meetthe need of the exploding student organizations oncampus."

--Rosalind S. Helderman '01 contributed tothe reporting of this story.CrimsonMelissa K. Crocker