Harvard Law School Elects New Student Government Officers

After a week of talking to students in Harkness Commons and passing out fliers boasting their candidacy, Skyler F. Cho ’05, a second year at Harvard Law School, and Rachna Shah, a first year, have been elected as the new President and Vice President of Harvard Law School Student Government.

Since starting at the Law School, both Cho and Shah have been active in student government. As the 1L representative from her section, Shah was promoted last winter to the Director of Faculty Engagement. Cho, who was also a 1L representative his first year, has since served as the Director of Internal Affairs.

Former Student Government President Jennifer D. Dein, along with the majority of the student government, endorsed the Cho-Shah ticket. Dein said that when Cho was Director of Internal Affairs, he worked hard on everything.

“He was very much behind the scenes, and wasn’t looking for recognition for anything,” Dein said. “He ran [for president] not because he wanted it on his resume, but because he wanted to help the student government.”

Jungmee Lee, a first year who is in Shah’s section, said that Shah always stepped up to do her job—for example, asking professors to institute a break during a two-hour lecture.

“I’m very excited that they won,” Lee said. “I voted for them.”

Student government, which only became a substantial student organization four years ago, has nevertheless begun to evolve as a respected body of authority on campus, according to Dein.

Corinne V. Snow, a second year, said that although the student government still does not impact her life, their presence—especially in the last year—has become more noticeable on campus.

In addition to continued growth and outreach to students, Cho and Shah said their most pressing goals are to facilitate interaction between student leaders across the Law School in order to foster collaboration and communication.

They said they also hope to target student leaders to join the student government’s board of directors—positions that are appointed, not elected. A diverse group of student leaders on the board, they said, will help ensure that problems across campus are identified and fixed.

—Staff writer Caroline M. McKay can be reached at carolinemmckay@college.harvard.edu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction.

CORRECTION: APRIL 13, 2011

The April 13 article "Harvard Law School Elects New Student Government Officers" misstated the class year of Skyler F. Cho ’05. Cho is a second year—not third year—student at the Law School.