“The way that it came about was that President Summers was interested in organizing an event for the entire campus so he discussed the idea with several of the deans,” Lee says. “He learned about the annual Springfest project and it was along the lines of what he had envisioned.”

Representatives from Summers’ office contacted Lee who immediately agreed to have Summers involved in the festival.

Though Lee says the initial reaction from the council’s Executive Board was very positive, there was no vote on the matter.

“Since it was pretty much working along the lines of past Springfests, [voting] was never an issue,” she says.

In fact, most council members did not even know about the agreement until Summers announced it at the Feb. 10 council meeting, says Gusmorino.

Since then, council members have been meeting once a week with representatives of the Office of the President to hammer out the details of co-sponsorship.

“What we are hoping to do is work with our current budget and see what would be the most effective way to enhance different aspects of Springfest,” Lee says. “We are all going to agree together what aspects we want to pump up, and that’s when [Summers’ office] will step in.”

While Summers’ staff is helping coordinate meetings with Harvard University Police Department and Harvard University Dining Services, Lee says most of the planning will still be done by the council.

Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’03, social chair of the council’s Campus Life Committee, says that after speaking on the phone Wednesday with Summers’ staff, the council plans to discuss a bill to allocate funds for Springfest at its March 17 meeting.

The bill will provide a more specific breakdown of Springfest expenditures, Stannard-Friel says.

This allocation, however, will be capped at the $20,000 the council has previously earmarked from its own treasury—leaving still unclear what role Summers will play in financing Springfest.

—David H. Gellis and Catherine E. Shoichet contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Nalina Sombuntham can be reached at sombunth@fas.harvard.edu.