After years of discontent about the previous student government’s ineffective management and excessive spending on an Airbnb retreat in New Hampshire, students finally dissolved the Undergraduate Council (the UC) and installed the HUA in its place last April. However, the HUA Executive Team decided that we, too, should have a retreat for officers, not only for leadership development, but to ultimately gain more money for the students we serve.
Every year, students are charged a $200 Student Activities Fee (SAF) to support student activities and student organizations including the HUA, the 12 House Committees, the College Events Board, and the Student Advisory Committee. Each of these parties prepares a budget proposal to present to an Advisory Board, which decides how to distribute the finances. Despite the larger student body in recent years, there has been a simultaneous increase in the number of students who opt out of this fee due to its financial burden or dissatisfaction with the programs. In essence, Harvard organizations are competing against one another for a shrinking pot of money.
At the start of the 2022-2023 academic year, the Dean of Students Office (DSO) informed us before we even created our initial budget that every student organization should expect major financial cuts and that we could potentially see even less money than the usual $500,000 granted to student government. We were also advised by the DSO that, in their eyes, $10,000 would be appropriate for the leadership development they wanted us to have at a professional retreat center. We knew students would be angered by such a large retreat expense. It goes against the HUA’s mission and reeks of residue from the UC’s previous financial mismanagement. As student leaders, we needed to find the balance: getting the training and community-building time that we needed and being fiscally responsible.
That left us with two options. The first option: please the students. We could ask for less money, knowing it would probably mean less money received overall. The second option: Please the DSO and the SAF Advisory Board with our financial ask, and then allocate the unspent money to other clubs. We went for the second option.
On Friday September 16th, 2022, the illustrious student government retreat began on the top floor of Harvard’s Student Organization Center at Hilles (the SOCH). We discussed teamwork strategies for implementing a student government with less interpersonal drama than in the previous years. We discussed our communication and working preferences, guided in conversation by our DSO advisor.
When night fell, I watched through the window as students coming back from the Harvard vs. Brown football game trickled into various parties. Inside the SOCH, we worked on planning Concentration Declaration Day, free headshots, and more projects for the year ahead. These events were designed to revive student participation with the University administration and rebuild the trust between Harvard students and their governing body. After a few hours, we headed off to the couches we had each claimed to sleep.
The next day, we conducted our usual general meeting in the Smith Center, where we routinely invite the undergraduate student body to speak, question current school policies, and vote on proposed initiatives and funding allocations. This style of student engagement was a key part of this new student government, where direct democracy is emphasized and unsavory elements, like confusing parliamentary procedures, are reduced as much as possible.
After the general meeting and several more hours of training sessions, the officers, my Co-President, our DSO advisor, and I went on one outing for a break. We took the T to the Mad Monkfish for dinner, and a few officers and I did some group bonding at an escape room. Upon returning, we briefly discussed our vision for the year before we each dragged our suitcases back to our dorm rooms.
This retreat came to a grand total of $522.06—a stark difference compared to the $10,000 initially reported in the budget proposal. By working hard on a proposal that requested what the SAF Advisory Board deemed appropriate and spending economically, we have been able to secure a $50,000 financial increase for all student organizations—12% more than in 2021 and the first major funding increase since 2018. While most student organizations still receive financial cuts due to the already high number of clubs and high rate of new organization creation, those cuts would have been even worse if we had not been able to acquire this additional $50,000.
The HUA renewed a deal with Harvard Student Agencies in exchange for advertising their rings, so of the $522.06 we did spend, $0 came from the SAF. The entire $10,000 originally requested for retreats has been reallocated to club funding.
Some argue that no funding should have been spent on a HUA retreat, which raises a larger question of investment.
As one of the HUA Co-Presidents, I spend at least 20 hours each week in unpaid service to the student body advocating for student interests to administrators and working on the ground to accomplish HUA projects. These are all, I believe, responsibilities that come with the job I have been elected to complete.
But I also believe that I have a right to get the necessary training to do that job effectively and to connect with the student officers with whom I’m leading. A dinner and an escape room are part of that connection, and I believe a worthy cost.
LyLena D. Estabine ’24 (lylenaestabine@college.harvard.edu) rates the SOCH couches a 7/10 for a good night’s rest.