Two UC Tickets Bring Humor to Campaign Trail

Two tickets in the Undergraduate Council presidential elections have proposed unusual solutions for the problems facing undergraduates.

Classics concentrator Roger G. Waite ’10 hopes to improve the Council’s relationship with University Hall by installing a Habsburg prince at the UC’s helm.

Michael C. Koenigs ’09 wants pets like ants to be allowed in dorms because after he came to Harvard, his mother let his 800 pet ants starve to death.

Both Koenigs and Waite are bringing humor to the UC campaign trail, which has been called self-important at times by other members of the student body. They both said they aim to prevent the race from becoming overly serious.

The tickets have each recently expressed mock concern about Harvard’s fiscal crisis. Waite temporarily suspended his campaign yesterday, issuing a press release arguing that “this is a time not for politics but statesmanship.” Koenigs said that “we shouldn’t even have the debate on Thursday, but should focus on getting that $8 billion back.”

UC President Matthew L. Sundquist ’09 said that humorous campaigns, which have been part of UC elections for the past two years, contribute to the season. Such campaigns push candidates to talk about serious issues rather than take themselves seriously, he said.

UC representative and presidential candidate Charles T. James ’09-’10, who has been involved in campus comedy groups but is running a serious campaign, said that the humorous atmosphere improves the campaign season.

“There’s less cross-talk between the candidates and butchering each other because you have candidates that are there that are relieving stress and letting people laugh,” he said.

But James said that the comedy campaigns are an indication that “people have stopped taking the UC seriously because the UC takes itself way too seriously.”

Koenigs, who is a former president of Harvard-Radcliffe Television and a member of the cast of the Harvard Hooligans online show, appears to be in the race purely for laughs. His running mate, Aneliese K. Palmer ’12, is a member of On Harvard Time.

While previous campaigns have proclaimed their intent to dismantle the UC, Koenigs said he and Palmer are running on a more positive message.

“We want to provide some sunshine and escape,” he said. “Kids are always campaigning. I love this school, and hopefully we help people realize how good we have it.”

Waite, on the other hand, seems to have loftier ambitions, even though he announced at last night’s debate that he would drop out of the race at noon today.

“A lot of the more serious tickets take themselves far too seriously,” he said. “Someone has to put them in their place.”

Waite said his core message is to “destroy the UC,” a slogan that harkens to the now-legendary 2006 “Kill the UC” campaign of Tim R. Hwang ’08.

“I would hope that my campaign would inspire people the way Hwang inspired me, to spread awareness of how vile the UC is,” Waite said.

Waite, the publisher of The Harvard Salient, does not have a background in comedy, but found material on YouTube, including ads from the Lyndon B. Johnson-Barry Goldwater campaign of 1964, to help shape his campaign. His running mate, Alexandra A. Petri ’10, is a co-president of the Harvard Stand-Up Comedy Society and a member of On Harvard Time, making her one of four UC candidates this year who have worked on the show. She also writes a biweekly column for The Crimson.

—Staff writer Alex M. McLeese can be reached at amcleese@fas.harvard.edu.