Senior Class Committee Taps Secretary, Treasurer

Filling the last two of its 10 lifetime positions, the Senior Class Committee announced its appointment of Abhishek Gupta ’04 and Katherine T. Richard ’04 to the posts of class treasurer and class secretary on Saturday.

The committee, composed of eight class marshals who were elected in November, chose Gupta and Richard from a group of applicants.

“The Class Committee is thrilled with the appointments,” said first marshal Shaka J. Bahadu ’04.

Applicants submitted cover letters and a resume more than a month ago. A special subcommittee responsible for choosing the secretary and treasurer then interviewed candidates both before and after Thanksgiving break.

After deliberating over the final selection this past week, the committee informed Gupta and Richard of their victory on Saturday morning.

No stranger to leadership positions at Harvard, Gupta has served as president of Harvard Student Agencies and as treasurer of the Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine.

“I think the committee chose me because of my enthusiasm and experiences,” he said.

As class treasurer, Gupta’s responsibilities will include ensuring there is enough money to run reunions and other post-graduation events, like regional dinners or fundraisers.

“This was a good way to serve the class committee in a capacity I am familiar with,” he said.

Richard said that as secretary she will be responsible for arranging non-reunion year events, organizing the class’ annual newsletter and keeping track of classmates who die.

Richard said she applied because she wants to maintain and strengthen ties within her class.

“I wanted to be involved in the construction of the class’ post-graduation community, and the position offered a super way to be involved in this process,” Richard said.

She added she was very happy with the committee’s decision to appoint Gupta as treasurer.

“Ab is fantastic and I’m psyched to be working with him,” said Richard.

The responsibilities of the two positions begin immediately upon appointment, and both expressed an eagerness to begin working on projects for their class.

“The class committee is creative, organized and entirely dedicated to creating what promises to be a tremendous senior spring,” Richard said.