New UC Leaders Say They Are Getting Started ‘Right Away’

Just days after winning their election, Undergraduate Council President-elect Catherine L. Zhang ’19 and Vice President-elect Nicholas D. Boucher ’19 said they are ready to hit the ground running and begin working on their 39 campaign proposals.

“The work doesn’t wait until a month from now, until two weeks from now to get started. It gets started right away,” Boucher said.

But first, Boucher, who launched “nova”—an online grant-processing system for the UC—said there are “a couple tech things” that he is working on before they take office next month.

“We just came from a couple UC meetings this morning, so we’re already starting to talk with people, work with administrators,” he said. “But in terms of putting specifics on it, I’d probably hold off and announce each one one by one.”

The duo’s campaign platform proposed solutions to a variety of issues often discussed at Harvard. To improve campus-wide race relations, for example, Zhang and Boucher proposed building a multicultural center. To address sexual assault, they advocated partnering with on-campus mental health services to develop a training module for tutors and proctors.

Zhang added that the UC’s website may also get refurbished under their administration. In addition, their campaign pledged to add progress bars to the UC’s website in order to keep the two accountable on their campaign promises.

“I think for us it’s super important that the Council as a whole is on the same page. We have 39 policies that we want to work on,” she said.

Boucher added that he and Zhang look forward to the year ahead, and plan to make strides on each of their proposals.

“This is a dream come true. This is a reality that two years ago I never could have expected and I personally won't sleep a full night until we’ve done what we said we’re going to do,” he added.

According to Boucher, University President Drew G. Faust reached out to he and Zhang Monday morning, congratulating them on their win. On Thursday night, the two won more than half of the first-choice votes in the UC’s presidential election, beating challengers Victor C. Agbafe ’19, Michael K. Bervell ’19, Conor Healy ’19, and Parth C. Thakker ’18-19.

—Staff writer Andrew J. Zucker can be reached at andrew.zucker@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @andrewjzucker.