CLARIFICATION

The headlines on both the print edition and original online version of this article inaccurately described the Deans Fund for Undergraduate Life as a "fun fund." As the text of the article makes clear, money from the fund will be used for a variety of initiatives—academic as well as social, ranging from an undergraduate advising program to a campus pub. The imprecise headline is the result of an editor's—not a reporter's—error.

A new fund dedicated to financing College initiatives, which has already set aside around $200,000 for next year’s social programming budget, has been garnering support from alumni and members of the senior class, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 said yesterday.

Formally announced this February, the Deans Fund for Undergraduate Life allows Gross to earmark money to support new and already existing campus initiatives—including the women’s center, arts programming, and various campus-wide social events, according to a fundraising pamphlet distributed to alumni.

Money has already been allocated to finance the new advising initiatives, as well as the pub in Loker Commons and the café in Lamont Library, Gross said. The pub and the café will begin construction this June.

“The fund provides money for those areas that may not have been at the forefront of Harvard’s priorities in the past but are now,” Assistant Director of the Harvard College Fund Lauren A. Rosensweig said. She added that having a specific source of money for campus initiatives will help increase student satisfaction and enhance the undergraduate academic experience.

The discretionary fund was created in concert with Dean of the Faculty William C. Kirby and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Development Office to respond to alumni who wanted to contribute directly to student activities, according to Gross.

“When I’m out speaking to alumni, they say ‘how can I give a donation that will directly affect student life?’” Gross said. “This [effort] resonates enormously with alumni.”

The project manager for Loker Commons planning and program development, Zachary A. Corker ’04, who works with Gross in soliciting donations for the fund, said that the College has recently sponsored events in California and on the East Coast to update alumni about the College’s new initiatives.

Corker added that having a fund dedicated to College events allowed donors to “attach a student face” to their contributions.

University President Lawrence H. Summers said in an interview earlier this month that he noticed there was a “real gap in the adequacy of funding for student life” and that he supported establishing a fund that could be handled internally by the dean of the College.

This year, the senior gift campaign will grant members of the Class of 2006 the option of donating to the Deans Fund for Undergraduate Life. In the past, seniors could choose between an unrestricted donation or a donation to the financial aid program.

The campaign, launched on April 5, is doing “significantly better” than last year’s, Rosensweig of the Harvard College Fund said.

Senior Gift Co-Chair Brooks E. Washington ’06 said that the new fund may encourage people who weren’t planning on donating but feel very passionate about student life to contribute. “It’s possible that we’ll bring some more people into the fold,” he said.

The College has already experienced tangible benefits from the discretionary fund, Corker said. The contributions have played a major role in “getting the pub off the ground,” he added.

A $5 million gift to the fund would allow a donor to place his or her name on the new student activities center at Hilles, according to Gross. A pamphlet for alumni outlined other naming opportunities.

—Staff writer Ying Wang can be reached at yingwang@fas.harvard.edu.