Mahan and Blickstead Tout Experience, Endorsements

Matthew W. Mahan ’05 and Michael R. Blickstead ’05 first met as opponents, battling to represent first-years in the East Yard.

Mahan won more votes in the election, but both earned a seat.

Now, after a combined six years of experience on the council, the two find themselves running together as the most seasoned candidates vying to take over for Rohit Chopra ’04 and Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04.

The two have received endorsements from a number of student groups, including the Harvard College Democrats, the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters’ Alliance, the Environmental Action Committee, the Perspective and Fuerza Latina.

So far, their campaign has been characterized by the clean-cut reputation and attention to detail Mahan has been known for on the council. But the two also hope to sell long-term visions, show they’re willing to confront the University and combat perceptions that they are insider candidates incapable of reform.

Details and Grand Aspirations

With a platform that pledges to drastically change Harvard’s current financial aid system to a no-loan one and get a student center underway, Mahan and Blickstead hope to sell their extensive council experience as indispensable.

While the team’s 10-page platform—online at www.mattandmike.com—tackles almost every aspect of campus life and includes the tried-and-true goals of extending party hours, providing 24-hour keycard access and expanding library times, it is not limited to minor issues.

Mahan and Blickstead focus on the need for a student center, a concern that they feel the University has ignored.

“Ninety Mount Auburn street in the middle of Harvard Square is a building that would be perfect for a student center,” Blickstead says. “But the University is using this four-story building for library offices. We want students to be aware of this fact.”

In addition, Mahan argues fervently for a remodeled financial aid system based on the one used by Princeton University.

“At Princeton, there is a no-loan policy so students will not leave college with loans,” says Mahan. “This is important to Mike and I because we are going to have a lot of loans when we graduate.”

Mahan and Blickstead say they realize, however, that they may not be able to complete everything on their platform.

“It’s not all going to be finished by the time we graduate,” Mahan says. “But we’re going to at least plant the seeds.”

Meanwhile, they say, they will devote themselves to the smaller student services.

For example, one of their campaign posters boasts, “We brought you to Logan, now we’ll bring your kegs to Blanchard’s,” indicating their intention to run a keg-return service on Sundays.

“This is a small issue, but it’ll save students a lot of time and energy,” Mahan says.

During their campaign, Blickstead and Mahan say they have shown similar attention to detail—often to the detriment of their sleep schedule.

“After we decided that we wanted yellow to be our campaign color,” says Mahan, “we spent two hours trying to find the perfect shade. We called all the Kinko’s in the greater Boston area, and finally found the best yellow at 4 last Saturday morning.”

Old Dogs, New Tricks

Throughout the week-and-a-half-long campaign, Mahan and Blickstead have touted their three-year tenures on the council as assets.

The two are the perfect ticket, they say, because they bring to the table knowledge of advocacy issues and social events.

They point to Mahan’s two-year run as chair of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) and Blickstead’s three-semester term chairing the Campus Life Committee and his current position as the Council’s treasurer as evidence.

Mahan points to extending freshman keycard to Houses, his prodding the Committee on Safety to meet for the first time in years and collaborating with Chopra to kill pre-registration as his most important achievements.

Most recently, he indicates pushing the 2 a.m. party hours bill to House Masters for a vote as yet another victory in his run as SAC chair.

Some opponents, however, suggest that Mahan and Blickstead are taking credit for Chopra’s initiatives, and that their individual records are meager.

“I think they don’t have as many accomplishments for the time they put in,” Barro says.

Building Support

Mahan and Blickstead have focused their campaign on winning support from first-years—who often vote in the largest numbers—deans and student group leaders.

In drawing up their 10-page platform, Mahan and Blickstead invited representatives from student groups on campus to give input.

Rene H. Shen ’05 said Mahan and Blickstead put together an advocacy group to get feedback from student leaders about what they wanted from the council.

Though her bid against Mahan in the run for Kirkland House representative proved unsuccessful, current head of the technology team for the campaign A. Eleanor Luey ’04 similarly vouches for the duo. She says her former opponent approached her soon after, in hopes of striking a collaboration.

“What Mike and I are offering is a willingness to bring in student leaders and connect them to the deans,” Mahan says. “We want to share access...we’ll use the knowledge and skills of different groups.”

Mahan and Blickstead contend that they’ve reached out to first-years and will continue to do so if elected. On Friday, the two hosted a town hall meeting open to first-years, though only four turned up.

“Even if people don’t come, it’s important that we offer a forum to the freshmen,” Blickstead says.

To increase their accessibility to first-years, Mahan and Blickstead say they plan to hold office hours and host study breaks, as well as swing by Annenberg to grab the occasional meal and chat with first-years.

Additionally, the two want to refurbish Loker to make it more accessible.

“Many freshmen have complained that they don’t have a suitable social space,” Mahan says.

“We want to turn Loker into a great social space by tearing down the dividers, moving Loker study groups to the Science Center, putting in a late night, student-run grill and putting up a stage for student performances,” Mahan says.

And it seems as if Mahan and Blickstead’s bid to attract the freshmen demographic may be met with some success.

Liza A. Strakhov ’07, who was at the town hall meeting, says “They looked like they were really going to follow through on their promises.”

Strakhov says she would probably vote for the pair, though she admits that she’s also not very familiar with the other candidates.

Mahan asserts that he has the backing of several deans, including Dean Thomas A. Dingman and Dean Jeffrey Wolcowitz.

“When they found out that I was running, some deans asked if they could support me. I said I thought that might make me unpopular,” Mahan jokes. “Then I suggested that they support my opponents instead.”

The running mates allege that this support—and their established relationships with the administration—will ensure that portions of their platform be enacted.

A Natural Pairing

At a meeting last week with the Black Men’s Forum, Mahan criticized himself for heading the only ticket consisting of two white men.

Mahan and Blickstead’s campaign manager, Charles M.G. Moore ’04, was president of the Black Students Association, although that group did not endorse a candidate this year.

Should Mahan and Blickstead win, this would mark the first time an all-male ticket has won since popular elections for council presidents began in 1995.

But Mahan and Blickstead hope to turn their pairing into an asset.

Blickstead is the ideal candidate, Mahan says, because of his experience with student services, such as organizing shuttles to Logan airport and New York City and planning the annual Springfest celebration in the Malkin Athletic Center Quad.

Both say that Blickstead’s Canadian roots establish them as the only international ticket running this year, with Mahan hailing from Watonsville, California.

“Now I feel like I’m married to—or at least dating—this guy,” says Mahan as the two hug. “There is no one else I’d like to run with.”