12 More Seniors Named to Class Committee

UPDATED: October 2, 2015, at 2:20 a.m.

Twelve more Harvard College seniors were named to the Class of 2016’s Senior Class Committee on Thursday, representing several upperclassman Houses, but overwhelmingly hailing from the River.

The 12 new committee members—six elected “program marshals” and six marshals appointed to oversee the annual Senior Gift fund—are tasked with representing their classmates this year alongside First and Second Class Marshals Reylon A. Yount ’16 and Jessica A. Barzilay ’16, who seniors elected last week.

Dean of the College Rakesh Khurana, front left, and University President Drew G. Faust, front center, smile at the 2015 senior class marshals as they lead the Class of 2015 with Reverend Jonathan L. Walton, front right, to Memorial Church for the 2015 Baccalaureate Service on May 26. By Madeline R. Lear

The Harvard Alumni Association announced the marshals’ selection in an email to undergraduate seniors early Thursday evening. Only one lives in the Quad and seven are women.

The six program marshals, who were chosen in a round of voting on Tuesday, will plan class-wide events, including senior bars and other social events leading up to graduation.

“I love event planning, so it’s such a great honor to be able to do it for my class instead of just Adams House,” said Annie V. Dang ’16, a newly elected program marshal who also serves as Adams House Committee co-chair.

As in previous years, many of the marshals said they want to focus on planning events that are both physically and financially accessible.

“I would really like to get out into Boston as a class, whether that’s through outings like sporting events or pub crawls, having some sort of way of getting out there, but also making it accessible,” Irfan Mahmud ’16 said.

The gift marshals, who in the past formed a separate gift committee loosely associated with the other marshals, now fall directly under the Senior Class Committee, according to Barzilay, who is also a Crimson editor. The gift marshals were selected through an application and interview process by the Harvard College Fund with the approval of the first and second marshals and will now coordinate fundraising and solicit donations from classmates for the Class of 2016’s Senior Gift fund.

“The thing I’m the most excited about in this position is to use the Senior Gift as a way to bring the class together in terms of reflecting on our Harvard experience,” gift marshal Kia C. Turner ’16 said. “I don’t think we get a lot of opportunities to do that as undergraduates.”

Although Senior Gift has been criticized in the past, for Kevin Liang ’16, becoming a gift marshal is personal.

“One of the main reasons why I am able to come to this College is because of financial help from alumni donors and sponsors,” Liang said. “So having that connection to alumni giving back to the College made me really in touch and dedicated to the position.”

Along with Yount and Barzilay, the marshals will together appoint a secretary, treasurer, media team, and House representatives to round out the group.

Program Marshals

Annie V. Dang ’16, Adams House

Jenny Gao ’16, Kirkland House

Jennifer F.N. Kizza ’16, Winthrop House

Jen J. Liu ’16, Quincy House

Irfan Mahmud ’16, Winthrop House

Gaby Ruiz-Colón ’16, Quincy House

Gift Marshals

Isaac L. Alter ’16, Cabot House

Jonathan G. Jeffrey ’16, Mather House

Kevin Liang ’16, Adams House

Andrea Ortiz ’16, Kirkland House

Wesley Rey Rivera ’16, Mather House

Kia C. Turner ’16, Leverett House

—Staff writer R. Blake Paterson can be reached at blake.paterson@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @BlakePat95.