With Posters and Parodies, Students Run for UC

From posters in the Yard parodying TV shows to Photoshopped images of Harvard administrators posted online, 136 candidates began their campaigns Tuesday for a position on the Undergraduate Council.

Just an hour into the start of the official student government campaign period, self-promotional posters of seven different freshman Elm Yard candidates were already plastered on a bulletin board outside Weld Hall—representing a mere fraction of the yard’s 25 candidates running for a seat on the Council this year.

A poster for Maxwell Benegas ’19, imitating the popular dating application Tinder, told prospective supporters: “Not looking for a hookup, so swipe left if that’s what you want. I’m here to serve as your Undergraduate Council Elm Yard representative!”

Isabella Beroutsos ’19 and Matthew A. Moody ’19, Undergraduate Council candidates, speak to Jack K. Kelley ’19, who is also a candidate, in Wigglesworth Hall on Tuesday evening. By Melanie Y. Fu

Posters ranged from the humorous—a parody of the Emmy-award winning comedy show “The Office”—to the sentimental—candidates’ baby photos—but they are not the only way students have taken to the campaign trail.

According to Benegas and Michael Liu ’19, both Elm Yard candidates, freshmen have also posted to their class Facebook group with campaign materials.

“There is a lot of campaigning going on, and I think it’s big on social media.” Liu said. “There are so many GIFs and memes and random shock-value … campaign materials in there, a lot of just really weird content.”

Upperclassman candidates are also taking to Facebook to campaign for the election.

Shaiba Rather ’17, a UC veteran running for reelection in Cabot House, edited an image of the face of Dean of the College and Cabot House Master Rakesh Khurana several times into a group photo. Rather also changed her Facebook profile picture, displaying text saying “hey fish, I sea you,” seemingly a reference to Cabot House’s mascot.

Rather attributed the sheer number of candidates running for spots on the Council as a reason for this year’s robust campaign materials.

“Pressure is definitely on not only veteran council members but also upperclassmen to perform,” Rather wrote in an email. “Campaigning this year seems more like a necessity than an option, as it has in the past.”

In Eliot, candidate Taylor D. Marquis ’18 sent out a House-wide email with a link to the Council’s voting portal just four minutes after the campaign period had commenced. Marquis said he also plans to campaign on Facebook by changing his cover photo and plans to post flyers in every entryway in the House.

The campaign and voting period are the same time this election cycle. Elections will close on Friday at noon.

—Staff writer Jalin P. Cunningham can be reached at jalincunningham@college.harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @JalinCunningham.