UC Leaders Launch App to Crowdsource Student Opinion

The controversial leaders of Harvard’s Undergraduate Council rolled out a new application last month, Crimson OpenGov, that crowdsources student opinion on school-related issues.

Undergraduate Council President Michael Y. Cheng ’22 and Vice President Emmett E. de Kanter ’24 rolled out the app, which is available on the web and from the Apple App Store, on Jan. 26.

The app lists pre-written questions about issues at Harvard, allowing students to write responses of up to 420 characters. Users can then vote “agree,” “disagree,” or “neutral” on other students’ written responses.

The app aims to enhance conversation on a wide range of topics concerning student life — including Harvard’s dining services, Covid-19 policies, and shopping week.

As of Feb. 1, the app had amassed more than 400 users, according to Cheng — about 7 percent of the College’s population. De Kanter said he hoped to increase participation in the app’s polls.

Some members of the UC said they supported the platform, but criticized how Cheng rolled it out.

“I think it’s a fantastic idea,” Oak Yard Representative Laila A. Nasher ’25 said. “I don’t agree with a lot of what the administration is doing, but I think this is great.”

Crimson Yard representative Owen O. Ebose ’25 said he is “all for what the OpenGov app does,” adding that the Council “desperately needs more student input.” Still, he said Cheng should have involved more members of the body in the initiative.

“There’s been a bit of a disconnect between Michael’s team and the rest of the council,” he said.

Cheng was elected UC president in November after pledging during the campaign to “defund” the body. In an email to College students last week, he and de Kanter wrote that they are moving ahead with plans to rewrite the UC’s constitution and dissolve the body in favor of a “new, 21st-century student government designed by Harvard students.”

Cheng previously represented Quincy House as a UC general member.

Cheng defended the app’s rollout, saying the UC had previously declined to take on the project. He also took aim at a constitutional amendment the body passed in December that changed voting thresholds for campus-wide referenda, saying it amounted to an attempt to overthrow his election victory.

“They made the choice to try to undermine the election results and play games, and so, if they’re willing to make up, I’m happy to work with them — but they’ve got to do that,” Cheng said. “I would also be complaining if I felt a little left out, but they made the choice to be left out.”

At least one student reported problems with the app, which was developed by Cheng and some of his friends.

“I went online to look through it and it was very much confusing,” said Ricardo R. Razon IV ’25. “I did not know how to use it.”

Cheng says he plans to use polling data sourced from the app as leverage in negotiations with campus administrators.

“It’s a way for us to get the student voice back in the University, and a lot of administrators respond to data,” he said.

—Staff writer J. Sellers Hill can be reached at sellers.hill@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Mert Geyiktepe can be reached at mert.geyiktepe@thecrimson.com.