Drama Club Elects New Leaders

The Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club (HRDC) elected yesterday what its current president, Cary P. McClelland ’02, called “the most well-balanced board” he’s ever seen come out of its elections.

The new president, Dan A. Cozzens ’03, ran unopposed. Ken P. Herrera ’03—elected vice-president over two other candidates—pledged to work together with Cozzens to improve the experience of HRDC members.

“I have a good working relationship and good rapport with Dan,” Herrera said.

In response to a pointed question about what specific changes he would make to the HRDC’s activities, Herrera focused on the operation of Harvard Radcliffe Summer Theater (HRST).

“I want to pare down the HRST radically to offer more opportunities for students,” Herrera said.

The other officers for the next year will be Loeb Experimental Theater Coordinator Maggie S. Lehrman ’04, Club Coordinator Jeremy R. Funke ’04, Publicity Coordinator Ingrid A. Liff ’04, Campus Liaison Naomi R. Krakow ’03, Treasurer Carrie C. Roby ’03 and Tech Liaison Kathy M. Bencowitz ’03.

The newly elected executives said they hoped to make the organization function more cohesively.

“The [theater] community should be made more of a club,” Funke, the new club coordinator, said.

Liff, the newly elected publicity coordinator, said she hoped to ameliorate the perceived exclusiveness of the club by presenting a more friendly organization to outsiders.

Lehrman conceived of a new, expansive role for her position as experimental theater coordinator.

“The Ex coordinator needs to be more involved with getting ideas started,” Lehrman said.

The leadership of the HRDC will be transferred to the new board over the next several weeks, with the first transition meeting to be held later this week.

McClelland portrayed the work of the new board as especially challenging since it would likely have to juggle many conflicting objectives. He emphasized the importance of developing a sense of institutional memory so that the work done by previous boards would not need to be repeated.

“The task of the new board,” said McClelland, “is twofold: to institutionalize this term’s work and expand upon it.”

Outgoing Publicity Coordinator Dorothy A. Fortenberry ’02 said she is hopeful about the new board’s ability to rise to the challenge.

“This new board is a good mix of people with experience and new faces.... It should be up and running quickly,” she said.