The Undergraduate Council last night approved its first slate of student group aid this semester but tabled two grants to religious student groups after one representative questioned the groups’ policies for selecting leaders.

The grant package awarded nearly $20,000 in cash and $2,000 in Harvard University Dining Services food vouchers to 53 organizations that applied in the first wave of funding this semester.

After minimal debate, the bill had nearly come to a vote when Jason L. Lurie ’05 warned the council that approval might jeopardize its tax-exempt status.

Lurie said that two groups receiving grants—the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship and the Harvard Asian Baptist Student Koinonia—discriminate on the basis of religion and that supporting these organizations would violate the council’s constitution.

According to excerpts from their constitutions that Lurie read at the meeting, members of both organizations have to subscribe to the groups’ faiths to be eligible for leadership positions.

“If we violate our charter, we’ll lose our tax-exempt status,” Lurie said. “It’s the law.”

The council ultimately decided to approve the grants package but set aside those two groups for consideration at a future meeting.

Membership in Christian Fellowship is open to all, said Deborah C. Morton ’03, a member of the group’s executive board.

But she added that Lurie’s claims raise complex questions about her group’s leadership policies.

“I don’t believe that a non-Christian could really lead the group,” she said. “The point of a religious organization is to be faithful to the religion.”

“It is kind of discriminating against religious organizations,” Morton said of Lurie’s claims.

During the meeting, council Treasurer Eric J. Powell ’04 said every student group that receives a grant from the council signs a pledge that the group does not discriminate on a number of bases, including religion.

Leaders of the Harvard Asian Baptist Student Koinonia could not be reached late last night.

In other activity on the grants bill, Rory S. Donald ’04 proposed an amendment to subtract $150 from the Harvard Friends of Scouting grant and divide the money equally between the cheerleading squad and Crimson Dance Team.

“Some of you will question my motives,” Donald told an amused council. “But they provide a really valuable service to the Harvard community.”

The council voted not to consider his proposal.

Donahue Addresses Aid

Also at last night’s meeting, Director of Financial Aid Sally C. Donahue spoke to the council and addressed Princeton University’s plan to replace loans with grants in its financial aid packages.

“If we didn’t have financial aid, the College would look very different,” Donahue said. “It’s really the minority of families who can afford to send students here without financial aid.”

“When we go into a capital campaign,” she added, “financial aid is one of the easiest things to raise money for.”

Donahue defended Harvard’s current policies even after Princeton’s decision.

“Princeton said, ‘No loans,’ and it’s snappy,” she said. “But our message has always been, ‘freedom and flexibility’—to choose whether to work or to borrow.”

But she said the College’s program leaves room for improvement.

“Princeton has more financial aid per student,” she said, in part because it has fewer graduate schools drawing from its total university endowment.

“Do we like being second-best? No,” she added. “Many of our donors are not happy about it. We have a president who’s not happy about it.”

Gearing Up for The Game

In preparation for the Harvard-Yale game this weekend, the council also approved four bills to contribute to the festivities.

The council will give $1,200 in cash and food vouchers to organize a “Battle of the Bands” between three Harvard and three Yale bands on Friday.

The council also passed a bill offered by Rachelle K. Gould ’03 that allotted $50 for posters and signs “to advertise the availability of recycling at The Game.”

P. K. Agarwalla ’04, who cast one of only six votes against the bill, expressed concern that the measure would be detrimental to its own cause if the signs themselves became litter.

“How much garbage will be produced by these flyers?” he asked.

The fourth measure, proposed by Colin S. Kelly ’05 and passed with no dissent, approved a $95 expenditure to provide hot chocolate during The Game in cups with labels on them reading “Beat Yale!” or a similar slogan.

The final piece of legislation, a resolution proposed by Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04, called for the council to support a party on Back Bay’s Lansdowne Street celebrating The Game. But the support will not take a financial form, according to the resolution.

It passed with the support of a large majority of the council.

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.