Coffey Says He's the 'Straight Shooter'

The "angry pilgrim" who led Harvard faithful at The Game against Yale last November now wants to lead the Undergraduate Council.

The man behind the broadcloth was current presidential hopeful Rudd W. Coffey '97.

In tomorrow night's election, Coffey is likely to emphasize the extremes of his past council service--service which ranged from administering council-run airport shuttles to "humiliating" himself in front of thousands at a pep rally he organized.

This active participation is standard for Coffey, according to fellow delegates who have worked with him in his three semesters on the council.

Sandip P. Madhavareddy '98 describes Coffey as a "passionate" member and leader.

"Moving chairs two-and-a-half hours before the Freshman Semi-Formal," Madhavareddy says, "That's Rudd Coffey."

"When it comes down to deciding who you want to run the council, you have to decide who cares the most," he adds. Madhavareddy says he'll vote for Coffey tomorrow night.

A common refrain of words like "energy," "integrity" and "dedication" emerges from both Coffey's supporters and opponents when they describe the candidate.

"He's known and respected by all of [the administration and council members]," says former council member David V. Bonfili '96. "I don't think any of them question his integrity."

Even council Vice President Brandon C. Gregoire '95, one of Coffey's original opponents, says, "Rudd's a very hard worker. I knew that from the first time he stepped onto the council."

As co-chair of the campus life committee this semester, Coffey has made much of his opportunities to organize those projects.

While Coffey's success as a committee chair has won him praise from most of his council colleagues, it could also be a detriment to his campaign if voters decide he's needed in his current post.

Council President David L. Hanselman '94-'95, who has endorsed Randall A. Fine '96 as his successor, says that if Coffey ascends to the presidency, the campus life committee will suffer.

In fact, if Coffey is not elected president, he says he plans to run for campus life committee chair again, not council vice president as some observers have predicted.

Coffey's other main contributions this semester were manifest in his proposals through the Movement to Reform the Undergraduate Council (MRUC), which he co-founded with Bonfili.

The MRUC proposed semesterly elections of council members, devoting more council funds to grants, and the modification of council by-laws to allow reinstatement of the termbill check-off option.

Coffey and Bonfili's reform proposals drew criticism from some who believed that time devoted to discussing those proposals could have been better spent.

Council Secretary Jonathan P. Feeney '97 says that while reform is important, "I think discussion of reform kind of monopolized the council's time."

While Coffey maintains that reform is important, he devoted less than two pages of his 16-page position paper to the topic of "Reform Ideas."

At the heart of Coffey's paper is his expressed desire to make the president a "facilitator."

Coffey's proposals include bringing "direct TV" to students, holding council meetings in areas more accessible to students, and creating an Undergraduate Resource Center, or "undergraduate Kinko's."

While Coffey's proposals bear some similarities to those of his opponents, he definitively avoids all outward appearances of the political smoothness attributed to his opponents.

The candidate showed up to a presidential debate Wednesday night in casual khakis and a denim shirt, in stark contrast to Fine, Gregoire and Liston in coats and ties.

Coffey's position paper even ends with a proclamation of his unpolished personna. "I'm not the smoothest talker on the council," he writes, "the best dressed, or the most prolific, but I shoot straight."

Coffey's untainted idealism may be a result of his relative youth--he is the youngest of the three presidential candidates.

As a sophomore, his perceived naivete is one of the chief criticisms leveled against him, despite the fact that both he and Fine share the same number of semesters of council experience.

Bonfili, however, says he doesn't consider Coffey's age a liability.

"I think there's a real question about [Liston's] responsibility and competence and there's a very legitimate question about [Fine's] integrity," Bonfili says.

"The only possible criticism I can think of Rudd is he's a sophomore, and to me that's just not a legitimate criticism."

"It's not just your age or your class--it's your character," Bonfili adds, "and I think on that Rudd comes out way ahead of the other two."