The team also receives money from the Undergraduate Council, according to Fuller, but not enough to pay for a coach.

"We got money to pay for the big flag that the guy runs around the stadium with, she says.

Left Out in the Cold

But while some groups have hit the jackpot with these big grants, their larger size means that fewer organizations share the wealth.

"I know very few people who did get any money from them," says S. Madiha Murshed '99, the director of BHUMI, an organization which sets up internships in developing countries for students. BHUMI was turned down for funding.

"It's a little bit disappointing because [college officials] talked a lot about the fund last semester," Murshed says. "It was surprising that we didn't get money, and they didn't tell us why."

Other leaders say they understand the College's decision to deny them funding.

"Many other groups on campus have fewer opportunities to raise money," says Hippocratic Society President F. Edward Boas '99, who is seeking money for a conference on genetic technology in the spring. The Hippocratic Society receives grants from corporations and from Harvard's academic departments.

Asking for More

Stewart says she hopes forcing the College to turn down needy groups will convince them to provide greater funding.

"The only way they'll be able to understand the dearth of funds on this campus is if they're personally flooded with application," Stewart says.

Incoming Council President Noah Z. Seton '00 advocated doubling the size of the grants fund to $50,000 during his presidential campaign, and says the issue is a top priority.

"$25,000 still leaves us below other schools' level of funding," Seton says. "There have been groups that were not able to get grants as high as they requested or at all."

But as the council battles for more money for student groups, it is also increasingly giving up control over how those grants are distributed.

While the council itself was established to distribute funds to students, the control over the new $25,000 lies in the hands of the administrative committee, which includes three administrators and the council president and vice president.