Office of Culture and Community awards grants to seven student projects

Harvard's Office of Culture and Community awarded up to $2,500 each to seven undergraduate projects sponsored by 18 student organizations, and the grants require collaboration between at least two groups and that events be marketed as open to all students.

Harvard's Office of Culture and Community announced the first recipients of a new grant program for undergraduate student organizations. Seven projects sponsored by 18 student organizations were selected to receive awards of up to $2,500 each. The program replaces several funding streams previously administered by the College's diversity offices, which were closed last summer. The grants require collaboration between at least two student organizations and that funded events be explicitly marketed as open to all Harvard College students. Key details: - Seven projects, sponsored by 18 student organizations, received awards of up to $2,500 each. - Grants require collaboration between at least two student organizations and that events be marketed as open to all students. - Recipients include projects sponsored by Harvard Hillel, the Harvard Black Students Association, the Harvard Undergraduate Rural League, the Harvard Turkish Student Association, and the Association of Black Harvard Women. - Examples of planned uses include HURL's Harvard Rurality Forum in April, HTSA's Transnational Justice Seminar Series, and ABHW's "Road to Success" professional development series. - Final grant decisions are made by Associate Dean of Students for Culture and Community Alta Mauro, who is advised by an 11-student board; Matias Ramos serves as the program manager and described the program's goals around dialogue and cultural exploration. - Some affinity groups expressed concern about the requirement to market events as open to all; Harvard Black Men's Forum president Miles K. Reeves noted reservations about accessibility of programming. Summary: The grants establish a new funding channel intended to promote community building, exchange of perspectives, and honest dialogue after the closure of several diversity-focused centers last summer. While organizers present the program as supporting cross-group engagement and cultural exploration, some student groups have raised concerns about the open-marketing requirement. Undetermined at this time.