Council Elects Education Committee

The Undergraduate Council’s Student Affairs Committee (SAC) last night elected three of the five student members of the Committee on Undergraduate Education (CUE), a joint student-Faculty committee that examines issues of undergraduate education.

Omolola Kassim ’04, who served on CUE last year, will be joined on this year’s committee by Oluseyi A. Fayanju ’05 and Alexander B. Patterson ’03.

In addition to advising the Faculty, the CUE is also responsible for publishing the CUE Guide every year.

Kassim, Fayanju and Patterson were chosen from 21 candidates after delivering brief speeches and answering two round of questions.

“This was by far a record for the number of candidates running for CUE,” said SAC Chair Rohit Chopra ’04, who also sits on CUE. “The sheer number of high-quality candidates means there’s a grassroots interest in the future of the College.”

All three elected students said they have an array of priorities for the upcoming year.

Patterson served last year on a committee advising University President Lawrence H. Summers on the selection a new dean of FAS and has been an outspoken advocate for improving the quality of teaching fellows.

“My top priority will be improving the use of sections—improving the way professors use small groups for teaching,” Patterson said. “That subsumes TF improvements.”

Patterson also said he favors a distribution requirement over a Core, but noted, “We kind of don’t know exactly what issues will be on the board” to be addressed by CUE.

Fayanju also said he hopes to work to improve TF quality and to expand course offerings on the Middle East and conflict resolution.

Kassim, who is also a Crimson editor, said getting feedback from as many students as possible would be her priority.

Chopra, who, along with SAC Vice Chair Shira S. Simon ’04, rounds out the roster of student CUE members, said the results of past committees have set a high standard for this year’s CUE.

“There have been some very articulate reports that have been put out,” he said. “We have been able to show the Faculty that they need to listen to students while making changes.”

All 21 candidates delivered a 90-second speech. After SAC narrowed the field down to 10, the finalists fielded questions on preregistration, grade and honors inflation, and ethnic and queer studies.

—Staff Writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.