Candidates for IOP Executive Team Present Campaign Platforms at Debate

Candidates to lead Harvard’s Institute of Politics student executive team gathered to present their visions for office at a Monday debate.

At the event, two teams of presidential and vice-presidential candidates — Thomas A. Tait ’26 and Morgan Byers ’26, followed by Tenzin R. Gund-Morrow ’26 and Summer A. L. Tan ’26 — debated their plans to improve the IOP’s reach to new student members and revitalize its programs.

Treasurer candidates Andrew J. Zonneveld ’26 and Kevin A. Bokoum ’26 and communications director candidates Lorenzo Z. Ruiz ’27 and Kimtee Kundu ’26 also talked about their plans to increase inclusivity in the IOP.

In a campaign platform released on Monday, Tait and Byers’ wrote about their goals to revive internships and mentorship programs, foster bipartisan conversations, create bonding opportunities, and expand fundraising programs.

At the event, Tait said they aim to make the IOP accessible to people from a greater range of concentrations.

“We’re missing an entire group of people,” Tait said.

“Concentrations are great ways to start tapping into different communities.” Tait added. “We’re working really intentionally to expand what the IOP is doing to appeal to more people on campus.”

Gund-Morrow and Tan proposed increasing funding for research and internships, challenging echo chambers, improving career development resources, and teaching advocacy skills in their platform. They spoke at the event about their goals to tap into members’ passions for service.

“We’re students, but that doesn’t mean we just have to be learning. We can also have a direct impact,” Gund-Morrow said.

Gund-Morrow added he hopes to ensure “people know that their work at the IOP has a larger impact.”

Both teams of presidential and vice-presidential candidates were pressed on low attendance at IOP programs in the Q&A portion of the event.

Tait, who previously served as co-chair of the IOP’s Policy Program, said he hopes to extrapolate from his efforts to boost retention in the program by “increasing the value” of IOP membership.

“What is the value to them beyond just this semester?” Tait said. “What are they going to gain from this long term?”

To boost attendance, Tan — who led the IOP’s Fellows and Study Groups program and served as its director of membership — said she wants “everyone to feel like their voice matters.”

“​What helps us is making people understand that they have a personal statement, that they can guide the program, and that we listen to them,” Tan added.

During the debate for the treasurer position, Zonneveld and Bokoum discussed their plans to reallocate funds to IOP programs.

Zonneveld said his campaign centers around “transformation, loyalty, and community,” adding that he would create new IOP initiatives that would appeal to all students, recommit the organization to its central mission of public service, and rebrand the IOP image.

Zonneveld added that, as treasurer, he would “never, ever, ever want to take money away from student programs” and instead focus fundraising efforts to “sell more exclusive items” or “connect with our alumni with their vast resources to ensure that we’re able to bring in income.”

During his statement, Bokoum noted that “the student budget is $50,000 for a whole year, compared to a million dollars staff has.” He said he would reallocate funds away from “big hitters” such as dinners for IOP student and staff leadership.

During the debate for communications director, Ruiz and Kundu spoke about their plans to make internal communication more digestible for current members.

In the opening of the communications director debate, Ruiz, a Crimson Editorial editor, said he hopes to generate excitement by creating an online merch store and streamline communication by both shortening emails and utilizing social media.

Ruiz added he hopes to “shift the center of gravity away” from overwhelming details about event and program information and focus on “meeting students where they’re at.”

Kundu said she hopes to make the IOP a space for people to “find our place in politics” by rebranding and revitalizing “every single program within the IOP.”

Kundu added she hopes to create a designated deadline tracker to both help programs stay on task and to show people the impact they have in the IOP.

Voting for the executive team will take place from Saturday to Sunday via Google Form for all IOP members.

At the event, candidates also stated their motivations to run for office. Tait said he was running “to make the IOP truly a home for everyone.”

Gund-Morrow said he hoped to “pay it forward” by “making sure that every first-year that walks into Harvard feels welcomed and invested in by the community and resources we have to offer here at the IOP.”