Senior Class Marshal Field Narrowed to 16

The senior class now has its own "Sweet Sixteen"--finalists in the race to be one of eight senior class marshals.

The 16 candidates were narrowed from a pool of 77 hopefuls during three days of voting last week.

The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) released the results of the balloting on Friday.

Roughly 50 percent of the senior class voted last week, according to HAA staff member Orquidea Martinez who helped oversee the election. She said the turnout rate is on par with past years and is expected to be similar for the second round of voting.

In the wake of the results, several of the finalists said they were surprised to have survived the first vote.

"I was surprised and happy to find that I was in the final 16, but I really hope I can make it through the last round," said Aaron D. Goldberg '01, a class marshal finalist from Adams House.

But with the surprise now somewhat faded, the candidates said all that is left to do is wait.

"You have no real control over [the election]," said Rachel L. Brown '01, of Pforzheimer House. "It's based on what you've done over the years, who you've touched base with. I'll just have to wait and see."

In addition to Goldberg and Brown, other seniors selected were: Andrew S. Chung '01 of Cabot House, Fentrice D. Driskell '01 of Mather House, Kenneth N. Ebie '01 of Dunster House, Jesse R. Elzinga '01 of Leverett House, Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe '01 of Mather, Chanda K. Ho '01 of Pforzheimer and Thomas Christopher King '01 of Leverett.

In addition, seniors selected Diarra K. Lamar '01 of Lowell House, Matthew S. O'Hare '01 of Currier House, Carsten Schwarting '01 of Kirkland House, Michael E. Thakur '01 of Quincy House, Karen C. Tseng '01 of Adams, Xunhua Wong '01 of Dunster and Howard "Welles" Wulsin '01 of Eliot House.

According to Tseng, many candidates sent out e-mail messages to friends, and relied on the power of word-of-mouth to get out the vote.

"I focused on explaining how I've been involved in our class through a variety of ways and why I wanted to do this," Tseng said. "I then told my friends to vote as they saw fit."

The eight class marshals will comprise the core of the Class Committee. The committee is also composed of a representative elected from each of the Houses, as well as a secretary and a treasurer who will be selected later.

The committee will help organize senior class events, such as Class Day, Senior Bar and Commencement. After graduation, committee members serve as alumni coordinators, planning reunions and keeping contact with class members.

"As alumni, the marshals' primary role will be to hold the class together," HAA's Martinez said.

Several candidates said being a marshal would be not only an honor but also a way for them to stay connected to Harvard.

"I've had a great experience here for three years, I want to continue to have a great experience this year and I want to stay connected in the future," Tseng said.

The position, according to Brown, "would be a great opportunity to give back to a class you're a part of, and a nice way to close out senior year."