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The Harvard Undergraduate Association unanimously voted Sunday afternoon to exponentially increase the Helping Hands Fund for student affinity group events to roughly $30,000.
At Sunday’s general meeting, which lasted approximately 10 minutes, HUA Co-President Caleb N. Thompson ’27 presented a proposal to roll over remaining HUA funds from the previous fiscal year into expanding the Helping Hands Fund — a pool of money established in previous years for inclusion and well-being initiatives typically awarded to affinity groups.
Last fiscal year, the HUA allocated a total of $2,000 to three student groups through the Helping Hands Fund. According to the HUA’s finance guidelines, clubs receive semesterly grants by submitting applications to the HUA, which are reviewed by the finance team which votes on a final funding recommendation.
According to Thompson, the HUA’s grants will help stabilize funding for the student groups left in the lurch amid months of careful tact from the University around funding for affinity programming.
“We want to help supplement student organizations specifically focused around affinity, and certain groups on campus that have been particularly affected by some of the political discourse that’s been going on,” Thompson said.
“Just to make sure we try and soften that blow, extend them a helping hand as much as we can,” he added.
In April, the Trump administration threatened to pull billions of dollars in federal funding if Harvard did not eliminate all programming related to diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Though the University clapped back with a lawsuit defending its independence, the College did not fund affinity celebrations during Commencement and has since shuttered administrative offices for women, minority students, and LGBTQ students.
The shakeup has left leaders of affinity groups including the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Association and Latinas Unidas de Harvard College seeking alternative funding such as external support from alumni.
Though certain affinity group events traditionally receive funding from the Harvard Foundation, which was reestablished under the Office for Culture and Community in July, Associate Dean for Student Engagement Jason R. Meier said in an interview last week that the OCC is still in the process of determining its funding allocations.
Extracurricular Team Officer Joshua M. Schultzer ’28 announced at Sunday’s meeting that the student organization recognition process is ongoing, with first-round decisions expected on Oct. 24. Following the initial decision, officers of new clubs provisionally accepted for recognition will be required to attend trainings, after which there will be a final approval decision.
Schultzer also announced that the HUA would hold a town hall for student organization officers to ask about policies regarding clubs, adding that logistics for the event had not been finalized.
Like at the body’s Sept. 22 meeting, Thompson teased that the HUA’s executive team had been finalized, though the members are yet to be announced. At Sunday’s meeting, the HUA also announced that it was accepting applications for a six-person First-Year Team, which was launched last year under the leadership of former Co-Presidents Ashley C. Adirika ’26 and Jonathan Haileselassie ’26.
“A lot of what we’re focused on is making people welcome at the school. And so that first-year experience is obviously an important part of that,” Thompson said.
Thompson also delivered updates on the HUA’s Oct. 10 Concentration Declaration Day for sophomores, which will feature 150 pizzas and banners with the names of concentrations. Running on a similar budget to last year’s event, the event will total to a roughly $5,000 expense to order the food and replace missing banners. The event was organized in collaboration with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which Thompson said the HUA meets with monthly.
“It’s one of the biggest events for HUA every year,” Thompson said of Declaration Day.
—Staff writer Akshaya Ravi can be reached at akshaya.ravi@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @akshayaravi22.
