Third Ticket Joins UC Elections

CORRECTION APPENDED

Three tickets have officially declared their candidacy for the positions of Undergraduate Council President and Vice President, according to an e-mailed statement sent by the UC Election Commission Tuesday Night.

Earlier this month, UC insiders had already predicted two of the tickets from within the UC—John F. Bowman ’11 with Eric N. Hysen ’11 , and George J. J. Hayward ’11 with Felix M. Zhang ’11.

The Election Commission’s announcement confirmed a third ticket, comprising outsider candidates Robert G.B. Long ’11 and David R. Johnson ’11.

Long, a social studies concentrator in Mather House, is involved in the Institute of Politics and PBHA’s Keylatch Afterschool Program and writes for the Harvard Political Review.

Johnson, who is Long’s suitemate in Mather, composes music for various campus groups and is a director of PBHA’s Youth Recreation program. He is also a social studies concentrator.

UC President Andrea R. Flores ’10 said she wasn’t surprised by the announcement of an outsider ticket, as the elections have traditionally featured at least one outsider candidacy every year.

Flores said last week that the race should be very competitive, as the Bowman-Hysen and Hayward-Zhang tickets represent the first time the presidential elections have seen a “completely UC insider double ticket” in recent history.

All three tickets this year are comprised of males, in contrast to last year’s election in which half of the candidates in the four-ticket race were female.

“It is disappointing that we have reverted back to the all-male UC tickets,” said Flores, who is one of five female UC presidents since the position became popularly elected in 1995.

Flores added that she was heartened by the presence of strong female leadership within the Council. “While they are not running for president, the [female] leadership is there,” she said.

All tickets were required to submit a petition for their candidacy with 150 signatures to the Election Commission by Monday. The candidates will be allowed to start campaigning next Monday at 12:01 AM. Voting will be open to the public at noon on Monday, Nov. 16, and close on Thursday, Nov. 19.

—Staff writer Melody Y. Hu can be reached at melodyhu@fas.harvard.edu.

CORRECTION

An earlier version of the Nov. 5 news article "Third Ticket Joins UC Elections" incorrectly stated that there have only been three female presidents in the Undergraduate Council's 28-year history. In fact, there have been five female leaders of the UC since the position became popularly elected in 1995.