Council Hopefuls Announce Tickets

Six pairs of candidates have filed to run for the leadership of the Undergraduate Council, doubling the number of tickets that were in contention last year.

As The Crimson first reported two weeks ago, Tom D. Hadfield ’08 and Adam Goldenberg ’08, Ryan A. Petersen ’08 and Matthew L. Sundquist ’09, and Ali A. Zaidi ’08 and Edward Y. Lee ’08 will be seeking the top two positions.

New contenders to the field are Tim R. Hwang ’08 and Alexander S. Wong ’08, Brian S. Gillis ’07-’08 and Morgan C. Wimberley ’08, and Omar A. Musa ’08 and Daniel Ross-Rieder ’08.

Hadfield, a Crimson editorial editor, has been the UC representative from Eliot House since last February. He ran for vice-president with Magnus Grimeland ’07 last year and placed second, garnering 912 votes. For his presidential run this year, Hadfield chose Goldenberg, a newly-elected Winthrop House representative and an active Crimson editorial editor, as his running-mate. Goldenberg currently serves as vice chair of the College Events Board and is a member of the Student Advisory Board.

Petersen has served on the UC since his freshman year and has been chair of the Student Affairs Committee (SAC) chair since last February. He has been involved in initiatives ranging from the College’s curricular review to the Lamont Café. His sophomore running-mate, Mather House Rep. Sundquist, has also been an active UC member since his freshman year.

Zaidi of Lowell House sponsored the legislation to have the Malkin Athletic Center remain open a month longer this winter and has also been active on the curricular review. Lee, his running mate and a representative from Leverett House, is currently the vice chair of the UC’s Finance Committee.

First time Council member Gillis serves on the Committee on House Life and has promoted legislation to improve the quality of Quad life.

This year, five out of the twelve candidates—Hwang, Wong, Musa, Ross-Rieder, and Wimberley—are not current or former UC members. Including Goldenberg and Gillis, who joined the UC this semester, more than half of all presidential candidates have less than one semester’s experience serving in the Council.

Noticeably absent from the UC tickets are FiCom chair Lori M. Adelman ’08 and SAC vice chair Matthew R. Greenfield ’08, both of whom have been active members of the UC since their freshman years.

Adelman’s absence reduces the number of female candidates on this year’s presidential ballot. Last year’s presidential election had two tickets with female vice presidential candidates, including the ultimately successful team of John S. Haddock ’07 and Annie R. Riley ’07.

This year, Wimberley is the only female in the group of candidates.

Currently, only eight out of the 33 UC members are women. There are only two female juniors, the class year in which UC members usually run for top office.