86 UC Rep. Hopefuls Declare Candidacy Ahead of Election

Eighty-six students have declared their candidacy for a representative seat on the Undergraduate Council in the upcoming fall general election, according to Sahil A. Khatod ’14, head of the UC Election Commission.

The number of people who declared their candidacy in the UC elections this year is 11 fewer than did so in 2012.

This year saw a decline in interest among sophomores, juniors, and seniors—14 fewer upperclassmen are running for an open position in this year’s election than in last year’s, while the number of declarations among the freshman class increased by three.

Freshmen make up more than half of the candidates running in this year’s election, although only 12 seats are awarded to first-years—three for each freshman residential neighborhood.

Elm Yard, which is made up of freshman students living in Grays, Matthews, and Weld, will play host to the most contested race of the semester, with 14 freshmen vying for its three open seats.

The number of candidates exceeds the number of openings in the other Yards as well—13 students are running in Ivy Yard, 10 in Crimson Yard, and 9 in Oak Yard. Apley Court, Hollis, Holworthy, Lionel, Mass. Hall, Mower, Stoughton, and Straus comprise Ivy Yard; Pennypacker, Hurlbut, Greenough, and Wilgglesworth make up Crimson Yard; and Canaday and Thayer form Oak Yard.

A small number of upperclassman Houses, which also get three representatives each, look forward to competitive elections as well. In both Leverett and Currier, four of the five candidates are running having served on the UC in the past.

While most Houses have three seats open, Dunster and Mather have only two, and Kirkland, one. Representatives from those House are currently UC committee chairs, and therefore will not be up for re-election until the spring.

A few representatives face what is likely to be a easy campaign.

No students declared candidacy for the one seat guaranteed to Dudley House, which represents the off-campus contingent of Harvard students. In Adams, only one student is running to fill the three available seats. In total, barring any write-in candidacies, five seats could remain vacant following this round of elections—two from Adams and one each from Cabot, Dudley, and Eliot.

Currier, Dunster, Leverett, Lowell, Kirkland, Mather, Pforzheimer, Quincy, and Winthrop each have the same number of declared candidates as open seats.

The candidates, who had to submit their declarations this past Friday, can officially begin campaigning at noon on Monday.

Voting begins at noon on Wednesday and ends the same time on Friday.

Staff writer Steven S. Lee can reached at steven.lee@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenSJLee.