Chopra Prevails In Lopsided Vote

After a hard-fought campaign, Rohit Chopra ’04 was declared the next president of the Undergraduate Council last night.

Chopra beat out second-place finisher David M. Darst ’04 by nearly 1,000 votes, as a record number of students cast ballots, the council’s Election Commission reported. The perceived front-runner’s margin of victory surprised even his supporters.

Jessica R. Stannard-Friel ’04, Chopra’s running-mate, won her bid for the council vice-presidency, also by a comfortable margin.

Chopra received 1,706 first-place votes over three days of voting that ended Wednesday night. Darst amassed 735 votes and Fred O. Smith ’04 garnered 599.

Stannard-Friel defeated Shira S. Simon ’04, Darst’s running-mate, by a final-round tally of 1,680 to 1,253 votes.

Chopra will be the council’s second-ever Asian-American president—just a year after current President Sujean S. Lee ’03 became the first Asian-American elected to that office.

Chopra hailed his victory and the record turnout as indications the campus supports his plans for the council.

“This is about the future of the Undergraduate Council,” said Chopra, who appeared both fatigued and content at his victory party in Quincy House last night. “People embrace this vision.”

Stannard-Friel echoed Chopra’s words.

“Rohit and I are very enthusiastic about coming through with everything we’ve wanted to do,” she said. “I’m really happy we got so many people.”

This year, 3,266 students cast ballots—over 180 more than the previous high in 1997.

While in past years candidates were informed of election results over the phone, last night members of the Election Commission arrived in Quincy House at around 9:40 p.m.

David I. Monteiro ’04, chair of the commission, arrived at Quincy 327, where about 50 Chopra supporters waited to learn of the results, and said he was announcing the results.

As a hushed crowd waited for Monteiro’s pronouncement, about 20 tuxedo-clad members of the Harvard Glee Club waiting in the hallway began to sing “Domine Salvum Fac,” a song requesting divine protection for presidents.

After a brief moment of confusion on Chopra’s part, the meaning of the singing dawned upon the president-elect, said commission member Jonathan D. Einkauf ’06.

“I just wanted to make sure that it was as memorable for him as possible,” Einkauf said. “I’m hoping that this could be a tradition.”

Though voting concluded at 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, announcement of the results was delayed until last night because of the commission’s worries that some students would have problems casting their ballots with the online voting system.

Monteiro said last night that the move was purely precautionary, and that no students reported problems with the system in the final hours of voting.

The commission also wrote in an e-mail Wednesday night that “this race is an exceedingly close one,” even though commission members did not know who was leading at the time or by how much.

After the results came out, Chopra’s leading opponents wished him well.

“I’m proud of my team and my running mate Shira and how hard they worked,” wrote Darst in an e-mail. “I’d also like to congratulate Rohit and his team. I am optimistic that he will make good on his promises.”

“I hope that they follow through on their platform,” agreed Smith campaign manager Ernani J. DeAraujo ’03. “They do know how to get things done.”

“We fought a great campaign,” he added.

Despite the 21-hour lag in reporting the results, the election went off much more smoothly than the general council elections in October, when administrative and technological problems delayed voting for two days and some students were unable to cast ballots.

Chopra, chair of the council’s Student Affairs Committee, and Stannard-Friel, co-chair of the Campus Life Committee, ran on a platform calling for student representation on the Administrative Board, more funds for social events and student input in curricular reform. They will take office Jan. 12.

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