Election Profile: B.J. Averell & Amias Gerety

B.J. Averell '02 and Amias Moore Gerety '02 might not be the most experienced candidates for Undergraduate Council--but they're the only duo whose candidacy was inspired by the swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

When the band played Springfest last year, members took a liking to Averell's posters showcasing his own variety show, "The B.J. Show," and sought him out to compliment him.

The band complained about the council's handling of their Springfest event--and a candidacy was born.

"It made me think, 'I'm going to do something,'" Averell says.

Averell might seem like an unlikely council candidate.

He gained campus notoriety for his attempt to sneak onto an overbooked Delta Airlines flight home last Thanksgiving. He was caught hiding in the flight's bathroom and arrested, though all charges in the incident were later dropped.

But Averell--a campus funny-man known for membership in the improv group On Thin Ice and his cartoon Neil World in The Crimson--wants to make having fun into serious business for the council.

"We're out to make life more fun and more convenient for Harvard students," he says. "We're out to have a good time."

Averell and Gerety portray themselves as outsider candidates who would bring a new approach to a council they regard as too political.

Averell is in his first term on council and has not sponsored any legislation. Gerety is not a council member.

Gerety says one of the fundamental problems with the current council is that "great ideas get bogged down in the political atmosphere of the council."

They hope to make the council more accountable to students--perhaps by assigning representatives to specific constituents and moving away from direct House-based representation.

"It appears many of the council members are representing their own interests and not those of their constituents," Averell says.

They also hope to convince House masters to extend universal keycard access until 5 a.m. and to keep all dining halls open until 2:15 p.m. for lunch. He also hopes to work to have a greater cereal selection in dining halls and to add Crimson Cash machines to House laundry rooms.

"The Council is good at doing small, specific things," Averell said. "And that's what we want to focus our campaign on."

From Primal Scream to BMOC

Averell and Gerety met when they found themselves running next to each other during Primal Scream as first-year students, each with his own cheering squad.

And the two went on to participate together in the 1999 spring first-year musical, Hong Kong.

Gerety says the two make an effective ticket because of their outgoing personalities.

'There's no one other than B.J. who's a BMOC--big man on campus," Gerety says. "People should vote for people...who they like and who they know like them. B.J. and I like more people."

"That's right," Averell adds. "One of the things we are best at is liking people."

Averell and Gerety criticize campaign tactics in the past--"It's a lot like Richard on Survivor, who went for alliances," Averell says.

So who would Averell be? Probably Puck, the in-your-face prankster from MTV's Real World, he says.

"He didn't have the alliances he needed, but everyone who watched the show liked him," Averell says.

Averell promises a fun campaign--full of "big surprises."

"We're definitely going to be using some uncommon tactics," Averell says. "And we are going to continue to meet people and have fun."

Council member Todd E. Plants '01 sees a viable candidacy in Averell-Gerety but cautions that the duo will have to work hard in order to convince the student body they are not the "joke" candidates.

"B.J. certainly has name recognition. Everyone knows who he is," Plants says. "But a big thing he's going to have to overcome is being taken seriously. With some people who run as outsiders, they tend to get themselves in over their heads."

Gerety is quick to dismiss concerns that the pair is tackling too great a challenge.

"People know B.J. is a man of action," Gerety said. "He will put himself on the line to get things done."