Marc R. Romanoff '01 has little competition in his area. He helped found Vegitas, first informally in 1998, and last fall as an official student group, as a way to work students on an issue important to him--vegetarianism and veganism at Harvard.
"I eventually found others at Harvard who shared my views and we all agreed that we needed to group together to create a 'unified front' to represent the unique concerns of vegetarians and especially vegans to the powers-that-be," Romanoff says.
On the other hand, the Asian American Brotherhood, founded by Selby Chen '02 and Christopher Tam '02, has the daunting task of differentiating itself from Harvard's already well-entrenched Asian-American organizations.
Administrative Roadblocks
But several students say the main obstacle to the success of their nascent groups has been a lack of communication from the bureaucracy within University Hall.
New student groups must apply for recognition through the office of Coordinator of Student Activities Susan Cooke. Once they receive recognition, they obtain a website and e-mail account from Harvard Computing Society (HCS) and can apply to the Undergraduate Council for funding.
"Unfortunately, the University Hall bureaucracy we...encountered was like one long bad dream," Romanoff says. "Aside from incessant delays in getting our group officially recognized, we were kept uninformed about the progress of the process. Most frustratingly, it took around five months between the time we learned we were official to the time we were granted our web page and e-mail account."
Romanoff says his group never received any official confirmation of recognition from Harvard until HCS finally gave it space for a website.
Rodney Glasgow '01, who founded Take Another LooK (TALK), says administrative assistance was essential to the founding of his organization. But after the group was created, he says, Cooke's office provided little guidance when he tried to find funding for its goals.
"We worked all year without a budget, which severely hindered what we could do," Glasgow says. "Miscommunication and lack of communication from the administration on how best to [secure funding] did hinder the group...."
Survival of the Fittest
"We aren't sure how exactly we can best help teen mothers," says Liu, whose group faces additional uncertainty because its mission overlaps with that of groups from the Phillips Brooks House Association and Project HEALTH.
According to Cooke, problems such as these lead to about 10 groups opting not to re-register with the College each year. Many of these, she says, are new publications that could not obtain sufficient advertising revenues to stay successful.
However, the students who formed this year's new batch of clubs say they are confident they will continue to fulfill a need on campus for years to come.
Darryl C. Li '01, who founded the International Monitoring and Action Group (HMAG), says, "As long as Harvard professors advise foreign governments, prime ministers come to give speeches here and students go on to have an international impact, we should be busy."