BGLTSA Elects Executive Board; New Officers Discuss Group's Future

The Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) announced the results of its fall executive board election yesterday.

Michael T. Tan '01 was elected secretary, Nicole Carbellano '02 was elected archivist, Christian Quilici '01 and Mikhaela B. Reid '02 were elected publicity chairs and Maya Bourdeau '01 was elected social chair.

Adam A. Sofen '01 and Nicole L. Deblosi '99 will remain the group's co-chairs. That position is selected in a different election in the spring.

Bourdeau said she hoped the election results are representative because "[the election] is as open as we can make it."

The BGLTSA board tabulated the results of the election on Sunday night. Votes were cast at a BGLTSA meeting on Oct. 4 and by e-mail from Oct. 4 through Oct. 9.

Any one of the organization's 200-some members could vote, though only around 60 people actually did, said Sofen, who is also a Crimson editor. Candidates with a plurality won.

The election is the first since controversial elections last January led to the impeachment of Vice Chair David A. Campbell '00, and the results of the election he helped organize were over-turned.

"I would rather not talk about last year's election," Deblosi said. She said she thought it unlikely that the results of this election would be controversial.

The newly elected board members said they had different concerns for the coming year.

"I want to try to bring in more freshmen and to get people who have no idea what BGLTSA is about involved," Bourdeau said.

Carbellano said, "I am excited at the new direction that BGLTSA is moving in," but added that she thought the most pressing problem facing BGLTSA is "a growing factionalization with those with a political bent and those with a social bent."

"The reason we have a BGLTSA is a political one," Deblosi said, adding "people think we've done the political thing already and we don't need to be political anymore."

The perception of a generally tolerant atmosphere at Harvard makes it harder to motivate people politically, Sofen said.

"[But] if there ever were a major political issue on campus, [the BGLTSA] would be the ones to turn to," he added.

To Bourdeau and Sofen, the BGLTSA is an umbrella organization.

"I think BGLTSA's strength is that we can represent whoever wants to learn about gay issues," Bourdeau said.