Nelson Says He Can Foster Unity Within the U.C

Eric M. Nelson '99 is staking his campaign on a promise that few have tried for and even fewer have achieved: bringing harmony to one of the most notoriously political organizations on one of America's most notoriously political campuses.

Drawing on support from a plurality of delegates--including members on all committees of the fractious council--Nelson says he can unite the Undergraduate Council and bring it forward.

"The U.C. has become so political and divisive that its hands are really tied," says Nelson, who is a Crimson editor. "I think we need to bring a new culture to this organization".

Nelson says he has always been a force for cooperation.

As a first-year, he was partially responsible for the landmark Nelson-Grimmelmann Act, which requires Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 to approve or veto any legislation that the council sends to him.

Before the act, Nelson says, the council would pass bills that went absolutely nowhere. Now, the dean submits lengthy written responses outlining his positions on whatever issues the council would like to see discussed-facilitating communication between the students and University Hall.

"We put ourselves in the policymaking ladder for the first time", Nelson says.

And today, Nelson is attempting to demonstrate this cooperation within his own campaign.

Nelson's running mate, Joseph A. Sena '99 is co-chair of the council's Campus Life Committee--the committee that frequently spares with the Student Affairs Committee, which Nelson chairs.

But while Nelson paints himself as the candidate of unity, his own record includes a high-profile involvement in the bitter partisanship that sometimes characterizes the council.

Last spring, when a faction calling itself the Progressive Undergraduate Council Coalition (PUCC) established itself as a force on the council, Nelson created an opposing group, Harvard Students First (HSF).

Nelson dismisses criticism that HSF was more politics as usual. He says he initiated this group only to defeat another faction, and that he dissolved HSF once PUCC disbanded at the end of the last academic year.

And together with Sena, who is a Crimson editor, Nelson has drafted a series of proposals that blend student affairs and campus life issues into what he says is a coherent program to improve life for students.

First on Nelson's wish list is Core reform.

Nelson says the council must act quickly in order to be a voice for students in the administration's review of the Core because there will not be another for five years.

"The students have to be aware that if we don't address the Core in the next few months we will not address it [while they are students at Harvard]", Nelson says.

Nelson, also has a plethora of other proposals. These include shrinking the gap on the Harvard grading scale between an A- and a B+: creating a campus-wide day of community service: expanding the host program for first-years and introducing a cultural awareness weekend.