Looking a GIFT horse in the mouth.

The UVA student council is currently looking for volunteers to become board members and a chairman of said board which will decide how to allocate a $20,000 grant the school has been received for the "Green Initiative Funding Tomorrow" program, or GIFT.  The grant is intended to be used in order to make UVA a more eco-friendly or "green" University.

I've applied to become the chairman, or a committee member, of this board.  But what is an honest libertarian, such as myself, supposed to do in a situation like this?  Despite the fact that I do strongly value the the natural environment,  sustainability, and decreasing pollution, I know I cannot ethically use other people's money involuntarily to advance my personal values.  The $20,000 that is in this grant is an ill-gotten gain involuntarily taken from current or future tax payers and I believe it would be unjust for me to be complicit in the use of that looted wealth. Then again, the injustice is taking place regardless of my participation. Is keeping our own hands clean really the best I and people like me can do in these situations?  This seems to be a problem that plagues those who advocate for liberty.  We shy away from such unethical government programs, but in doing so we empower the exact wrong people, those who have no qualms about spending other people's money. We give them easy access to positions of leadership, influence, and renown.  They even end up looking like champions of good causes since they are often fighting for good causes even if they are using bad means to do so. 

I want for us to figure a way out of this dilemma.  Should I try my best for the chairmanship and then demand we refuse the grant money out of principle?  I doubt the rest of the board, let alone the school, would see eye to eye with me on that issue.  Should I give up on trying to find a completely ethical solution and try guide the board to the "least" unethical way to use the funds?  Or is keeping our hands personally clean and giving up the game to those of lower standards really the best choice available to us?