CLC Chair Loses in Election

The 24th Harvard Undergraduate Council convened for the first time last night minus one of the most active council figures on campus.

Jack P. McCambridge ’06, the former chair of the council’s Campus Life Committee (CLC) and the council liaison to the Harvard Concert Commission (HCC), was not re-elected to the council this year after finishing in fourth place in Winthrop House.

McCambridge said that while he still wanted to serve as a representative on the council, he was not able to put as much effort into campaigning this year.

“I didn’t do a very good job of that,” McCambridge said. “I was doing a number of other events that were starting at the time, so unfortunately I didn’t take the time to campaign.”

But McCambridge said that he will continue his work on the HCC, including planning a potential concert in Gordon Track this November. McCambridge has played an integral role in the planning of that concert so far, as well as in the planning of the Busta Ryhmes concert last spring.

McCambridge said that it is his hope and expectation that Christina L. Adams ’06, who served as the vice-chair of the CLC last year and was re-elected to the council from Quincy House this year, will replace him as CLC chair.

“It would be an honor to serve as chair and follow in Jack’s footsteps,” Adams said. “He was a wonderful leader and contributed a lot to the social life at Harvard.”

McCambridge, who many speculated would run for council President this December, said that he has known since last October that he would not seek the highest office. Though McCambridge will not be on the council, he could still run for president.

“I am positive that I won’t run,” McCambridge said.

Despite the significant drop in the number of candidates this year—120 compared to 185 last year—a record 2,792 students voted in the election.

This election also produced one of the most diverse councils in recent memory. According to Council President Matthew W. Mahan ’05, roughly 50 percent of council representatives are ethnic minorities.

Azhar N. Richmond ’05, co-founder of a group called the Vote or Die Family that supported minority candidates for the council, said six out of the nine candidates that the group endorsed were elected.

Richmond said that five of this year’s 49 elected representatives are black, compared to two on last year’s council.

Election Commission Chair Jonathan D. Einkauf ’06 said that a total of nine campaign penalties were assessed during the course of the election, and that for the first time in memory a candidate has been disqualified.

J. Sawallah Guseh ’06, who was re-elected to the council after finishing third in the voting in Currier House, was disqualified from the election on Saturday after failing to comply with a previous penalty that was assessed to his campaign.

The election commission ordered Guseh to remove all campaign literature after friends of his brought three laptops into the Currier dining hall and encouraged residents to vote for him. Campaigning in dining halls is against election rules.

Guseh has appealed the disqualification, and the election commission will decide on the appeal today. If the appeal is denied, then the fourth place finisher in Currier House, Colleston A. Morgan ’07, would replace Guseh on the council.

At last night’s opening meeting of the new council, both Mahan and council vice president Michael R. Blickstead ’05 delivered speeches and then administered elections for secretary and treasurer.

The council elected Chidubem N. Iloabachie ’07 of Eliot House as its new secretary and Clay T. Capp ’06 of Kirkland House as its new treasurer.

Mahan and Blickstead also discussed appointing an assistant treasurer, in light of the 95 checks the council bounced this past spring and summer.

The council also considered one piece of new legislation last night—a bill that would allow for the council to promote the movie-download website Movielink.com in exchange for a 25 percent discount on movie downloads for Harvard students. In addition, a cut of the revenue would go to the council.

The bill, which was written by Adams, passed 31 to 12 with 4 abstentions.

The results of the class ring vote will be announced today after voting, which was open to all students, ended at midnight last night. According to Eindauf, only 30 to 35 percent of those who voted in the council election voted for a class ring design.

—Staff writer Evan M. Vittor can be reached at evittor@fas.harvard.edu.