Tickets Form for UC President

With the official announcement of Undergraduate Council presidential tickets less than a week away, sources close to the candidates have confirmed that two Council insiders—Senan Ebrahim ’12 and Matthew S. Coe-Odess ’12—will face off for the presidency.

Ebrahim, who chairs the Student Life Committee, will partner with UC Secretary Bonnie Cao ’12 as the vice presidential candidate on the ticket. Coe-Odess, the Social Life Task Force Chair, will run with Tengbo Li ’12, the Council’s Education Committee Chair.

Both tickets bring years of UC experience to bear on the race, but the contest’s dynamics remain far from clear at this early stage.

“This year because they’re both on an even playing field, it’s hard to predict where it’s going to go,” said Finance Committee Chair Luis A. Martinez ’12. “There really is nobody who’s been the frontrunner.”

Ebrahim and Coe-Odess declined to comment for this article, citing election rules that prohibit campaigning before Nov. 8.

Having served on the Council since his freshman year, Ebrahim enters the race with the most Council experience. During that time, Ebrahim has worked under the auspices of the Student Life Committee to address issues of inter-House dining restrictions and the future of the Optional Winter Activities Week, better known as “J-Term.”

Coe-Odess joined the Council more recently after being elected to represent Kirkland House in September of last year.

Earlier this month, Coe-Odess, who was the UC Parliamentarian last semester, was selected to head the newly formed Social Life Task Force. In this position, he has worked to organize the upcoming Social Life Survey and the Game of the Week celebrations, an initiative that has attempted to increase student attendance at athletic events by giving out free food and T-shirts.

Although both tickets are made up of UC leadership, Coe-Odess and Ebrahim’s vice presidential candidates took on Council leadership positions more recently.

Since the start of the semester, Li has chaired the Education Committee, a body that has sought to improve undergraduate advising and worked on pre-term planning, the policy that requires College students to tentatively declare their course selection for the following semester.

Cao has focused on student services during her three semesters on the Council, particularly the UC TKTS program.

Martinez said that both platforms will most likely focus on social life, an issue that has been at the center of the final months of the current UC administration.

“They’re going to touch on similar themes,” Martinez said. “They’re going to be 80 percent the same.”

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: October 29, 2010

An earlier version of the Oct. 29 news article "Tickets Form for UC President" incorrectly stated that UC Secretary Bonnie Cao '12 is the only UC candidate on the executive board. In fact, as committee chairs, the other candidates are also members of the UC Executive Board. Cao is the only executive officer."