Students to Meet With Overseers, UC Leaders Say

The Board of Overseers plans to meet informally with undergraduate students ahead of the body’s next meeting, according to newly elected Undergraduate Council President Shaiba Rather ’17 and Vice President Daniel V. Banks ’17.

During the meetings, the Board of Overseers—Harvard's second highest governing body— will solicit feedback on student issues, Rather and Banks said at the Council’s first general meeting on Sunday. Banks, who along with Rather campaigned on a platform calling for Harvard to elect an undergraduate to the Board of Overseers, said the Council aims to have more interaction with the Overseers than in previous years.

The Council’s first meeting began with a statement from Dean of Freshmen and newly appointed Interim Office of Student Life Dean Thomas A. Dingman ’67, who praised the representatives’ efforts to work on projects related to freshmen.

The Undergraduate Council meets in the Leverett House Library Theater on Sunday night. Issues discussed at the meeting included upcoming special elections to fill vacant Council positions and the end of the Ventfull pilot program. By Sidni M. Frederick

“This year’s first year group has been extraordinary to work with,” Dingman said, citing freshman projects that included placing printers in more freshman dorms, enhancing brain break, adding game tables to several dorms, and installing a kitchen in Pennypacker.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve life at Harvard,” Dingman said.

The UC held its first meeting in the Leverett House Library Theater, a first for a body that typically meets in Harvard Hall or Sever Hall.

“This is part of a program of rotating UC Gens,” Rather said, referring to the Council’s weekly meetings. “UC Gens are open to the entire school–the entire school might not know that, or they might know that and not want to walk all the way to Harvard Hall. We want to lower that barrier to entry.”

To encourage more students to attend UC meetings, Rather and Banks plan to change the venue throughout the semester. They said they also plan to advertise the location and time of meetings.

The UC considered two pieces of legislation on Sunday. The first concerned rules about the authorization of spending, and a second focused on the purchase of a new projector for the Office of Student Life. Representatives ultimately tabled both pieces of legislation, pending votes at a future meeting.

The projector legislation spurred some backlash from UC members who debated the source of the funding for the equipment. Some representatives argued that the Council’s Student Initiatives Committee, rather than the UC’s operations budget, should fund the projector.

Rather and Banks named Daniel R. Levine ’17— an inactive Crimson editor the UC’s new Rules Committee Chair and Cameron K. Khansarinia ’18 new Parliamentarian.

Rather said ten spots on the UC are open for election this semester. Special elections are tentatively set to begin on Feb. 9.

–Staff writer Brian P. Yu can be reached at brian.yu@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @brianyu28.