Four Tickets to Contend for UC President

Four pairs of students will run to become the next Undergraduate Council president and vice president, according to UC Election Commission Chair Matthew C. Estes ’18.

This year’s candidates for UC president, and their running mate for the vice presidency, are:

- Scott Ely ’18, with running mate Evan M. Bonsall ’19

- Eduardo A. Gonzalez ’18, with running mate Alex Popovski ’19

- Yasmin Z. Sachee ’18, with running mate Cameron K. Khansarinia ’18

- Grant S. Solomon ’18, with running mate Alexander T. Moore ’18

Three of the presidential candidates—Ely, Gonzalez, and Sachee—are all juniors currently serving their third term on the UC and have served on the Council since their freshmen year. Ely is the UC’s current Education Committee Chair, Gonzalez is the former Freshman Class Committee Chair, and Sachee is the current Student Relations Committee Chair.

UC President Shaiba Rather '17 and UC Vice President Daniel V. Banks '17. By Sidni M. Frederick

Each of those three presidential candidates’ running mates—two of whom are sophomores—are currently serving their second term on the UC. Solomon and Moore have not previously served on the Council, though Moore ran for the UC last fall.

The four tickets received the necessary 150 signatures by Sunday night required to appear on the election ballot, according to Estes. The campaign period for candidates will begin next Tuesday, and voting will be open from Monday Nov. 14 to Thursday Nov. 17. Candidates are prohibited from appearing in the media prior to the campaign period.

In addition to voting for the next UC president and vice president, students may also vote on referendum questions. For referenda to appear on the ballot, either one-tenth of the undergraduate population must sign a petition in favor of the question appearing, or two-thirds of the UC must vote to put the question on the ballot.

The UC may vote to add additional questions to the ballot as late as next Sunday. The following questions have been submitted to the UC by students, and must receive 670 signatures in order to appear on the UC’s November ballot:

- Should Harvard College repeal the proposed sanctions on unrecognized single gendered organizations?

- Should the Harvard Turkey become the official mascot of Harvard University?

- Should exams be allowed on Housing Day?

- Should Harvard College raise the UC student term bill fee by $6?

- Should the single-gender organization sanctions also affect the casting division of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals until they formally allow women to perform?

According to the UC Constitution, any referendum question that appears on the ballot and receives a majority vote will compel the UC to act on the motion, as long as a majority of the student body votes in the election.

The new UC president and vice president will take office starting at the beginning of next semester.

—Staff writer Brian P. Yu can be reached at brian.yu@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @brianyu28.