New Consulting Club Advises Other Student Groups

UPDATED: February 27, 2018 at 1:53 a.m.

Student organizations on campus have a new place to turn for guidance this semester—Harvard’s newest consulting group, Crimson Consulting Club.

CCC launched this spring, joining Harvard’s plethora of student organizations and the handful of already existent student-run consulting groups. The group maintains a unique focus, though.

Instead of serving outside companies and organizations, CCC will focus inward—on advising other campus student groups.

Joshua Hawkins ‘18 and Michael Reid ‘18, two of the co-founders of the group, said started planning in August 2018. Other co-founders include Tristan Threatt '18 and Abdurezak Shemsu '18.

“The idea was so good because there were no other organizations like this on campus,” Reid said.

Reid said his experience serving on the board of the Black Men’s Forum taught him the need for a student-focused consulting group on campus.

“There are always times that I’ve had, where as a leader, I didn’t totally know what my role was supposed to be,” Reid said. “By the time my tenure ended, I realized there were a lot of things I could have been doing with the months that I had.”

Beyond addressing the needs of various student organizations, CCC also aims to provide a more accessible space to learn about the consulting world. Hawkins said he hopes CCC can encourage a more entrepreneurial spirit on campus and foster more exploration of the business world.

“A lot of people on Harvard’s campus don’t necessarily know what consulting is,” Reid said. “Aside from helping Harvard as a whole function better, it is also helping the students get more experience and more exposure that they don’t have right now.”

The CCC co-founders are both seniors, though, so they will only be involved as students for one semester. Hawkins said the two are working on setting up the board to ensure a smooth transition into the fall.

Reid, who recently started his own company, said he plans to stay involved after graduation.

The two hope CCC will help every Harvard student have a better experience.

“Everybody can come be a part of it; it’s not exclusive,” Reid said. “It’s one of those things purely made to make Harvard a better experience for everybody.”

—Staff Writer Andrea M. Bossi can be reached at andrea.bossi@thecrimson.com and on Twitter @bossi147