Elect Hadfield and Goldenberg

In a crowded and diverse field of candidates for Undergraduate Council (UC) president and vice president, one ticket stands out. Tom D. Hadfield ’08 and Adam Goldenberg ’08 have a vision with extraordinary scope, a compelling and detailed plan of action, and the unique experience and skill necessary to realize their ambitious agenda. We enthusiastically endorse Hadfield and Goldenberg for president and vice president of the UC.

Hadfield and Goldenberg, who are Crimson editorial editors, promise to lead a more dynamic, accountable, and professional UC. After a year dominated by structural reform and internal debate, the UC needs to refocus its efforts on delivering results for the students of Harvard College. Hadfield and Goldenberg’s agenda will do just that.

Unlike their rivals, Hadfield and Goldenberg see that the UC has vast untapped potential for independent action. They will create a UC that, instead of merely pressuring the administration, will take the initiative to provide student services. For instance, Hadfield and Goldenberg’s CrimsonReading.com bypassed the administration and accomplished in one week what years of traditional advocacy failed to do. Last week, three course packs were made available for free online, centralizing electronic resources students have already paid for. This demonstration is the start of an effort to put all course packs online by study card day next semester. We fully expect Hadfield and Goldenberg will bring this same ingenuity to other problems they plan to tackle, including the lack of accountability in teaching quality and financial security for student groups.

While the UC must, of course, continue to work with the administration, it relies on too narrow a range of advocacy techniques. There is a place for meeting with deans and writing position papers, but petitions, rallies, letter writing campaigns, and op-eds should also be part of the UC’s advocacy toolkit. Hadfield and Goldenberg’s entrepreneurial approach will equip the UC with tools to match the demands of issues the UC has never before been able to successfully address.

While many tickets identify pressing concerns facing the campus, Hadfield and Goldenberg offer uniquely detailed and practical strategic plans to address them. For each problem they identify, they have specified roles for the UC, student groups, faculty, and the administration. They also present a reasonable timeline of when students can expect concrete results.

Although their plans are ambitious, we believe that Tom Hadfield and Adam Goldenberg are a singularly well-qualified team. Hadfield is one of the most accomplished undergraduates at Harvard. Prior to arriving on campus, he launched Soccernet, an internationally acclaimed Web site, and undertook a series of philanthropic projects. At Harvard, Hadfield has pioneered the Swipe for Darfur campaign, a comprehensive online events calendar for the College, and CrimsonReading.org, a website that allows students to save money by comparison shopping for textbooks—and, starting last week, find coursepacks online.

Goldenberg’s impressive accomplishments complement Hadfield’s. He serves as vice chair of the College Events Board and vice chair for residential life of the UC’s Student Affairs Committee (SAC). Last spring, he worked closely with the administration to create the Peer Advising Fellows program. Already a familiar face in University Hall, Goldenberg’s relationships with administrators will be an invaluable asset to the UC and the undergraduates it serves.

We recognize that Ryan A. Petersen ’08 and Matt L. Sundquist ’09, Hadfield and Goldenberg’s most formidable opponents, have made commendable contributions to the student body through their roles on SAC. Nonetheless, their vision for student government represents a traditional and often ineffective approach. The Faculty and administration have too often proved unresponsive to gentle prodding, and this campus needs a culture change that gentle prodding will never produce. Ingenuity and innovation distinguish Hadfield and Goldenberg from the rest of the pack.

We are confident that Hadfield and Goldenberg will explore every avenue to bring about the changes students want to see: cheaper coursepacks, accountability in teaching, a streamlined grants process for student groups, and financial security for student activities with the creation of a student endowment.

Hadfield and Goldenberg’s candidacy is a rare opportunity to elect two of the most talented, competent, and energetic campus leaders to head our student government. The student body would be remiss to pass this opportunity up. We wholeheartedly endorse Tom Hadfield and Adam Goldenberg for president and vice president of the UC.