Close Race Marks IOP Elections

In a close race, E. Clarke Tucker ’03 and Heather A. Woodruff ’03 beat out Josh I. Weiner ’03 and Theresa M. House ’04 on Saturday to become the new president and vice president of the Institute of Politics (IOP).

Nearly 80 people gathered in the Kennedy School of Government’s Starr Auditorium to elect the 2001-2002 student leaders of the IOP.

“It was extremely close [presidential race],” said former IOP Vice President Eugene Krupitsky ’02. “We recounted it four or five times just to make sure.”

Tucker and Woodruff, who ran on the same ticket, said they hoped to focus on widening student involvement and issue awareness in the next term.

“In addition to student involvement being organized around different types of events, we want them also to be organized around different types of issues,” Tucker said.

Woodruff said she and Tucker organized past projects together, including the voter registration drive and the conference for new members of Congress.

“We really work together as a team quite well,” Woodruff said. “We are going to work together this semester and this year, just encouraging people to get involved and trying to make the IOP a more open place.”

Voters selected Weiner, the other presidential candidate, as treasurer. The rest of the positions were: Elizabeth G. Frieze ’04, Civics IOP chair; Peter P. Buttigieg ’04, chair for community action; Betsy A. Sykes ’04, chair for fellows; Jason R. Semine ’04, forums chair; Elisabeth R.C. Talmadge ’03, editor-in-chief of the Harvard Political Review; Ganesh N. Sitaraman ’04, chair for the Harvard Political Union; Riley C.G. Mendoza ’04, chair for internships; Ryan D. Rippel ’04, outreach chair; Caroline E. Adler ’04, projects chair; and Adam J. Wienner ’04, chair for study groups.

“We felt the participation was good,” IOP Director David H. Pryor said.

“We also think the new slate of officers and chairs elected by the general population of the Institute of Politics are very, very good, and certainly active people in the Institute of Politics,” he said.

Elections lasted for about three hours, from around 2:15 p.m. to 5:20 p.m. Presidential and vice presidential candidates were allotted five minutes of speech time, followed by a question period.

Treasurer and committee chair candidates had three minutes each for their speeches. They also answered questions.

Krupitsky said, unlike previous years, most speeches did not only outline specific programs, but also presented visions for the general direction of the IOP.

In a surprise move last November, Pryor disbanded the IOP’s former Student Advisory Council (SAC), aiming to create a more open atmosphere at the institute. While SAC had previously selected members through an application process, restructuring moves since then mean that all but three members of SAC are now elected under the IOP’s new constitution.

“People are talking about specific themes they want to run on,” Krupitsky said. “I think that’s a huge advantage to the system in general.”

The organization will transition over the next couple months, during which old officers will maintain a presence in IOP affairs.

“All the terms will officially take over typically in January or February,” Krupitsky said.

Tucker said he looks forward to the upcoming year.

“The new group of committee chairs at the IOP is stellar and we are really excited about working with them,” Tucker said. “Rob McCarthy [former president] and Eugene Krupitsky have done a great job in the past year and we have some big shoes to fill.”