City Council Candidates Weigh In Against Trump Settlement at Harvard Dems Forum

Cambridge City Council candidates pushed Harvard to stand up to the Trump administration at a Tuesday night forum hosted by the Harvard College Democrats.

Twenty candidates are vying for nine seats on the Council, running in one of the most crowded races in recent memory. The Harvard College Democrats invited all 20 candidates, and 10 attended the event in Harvard Yard.

The candidates in attendance urged the University to use its financial resources to resist conceding governing power to the Trump administration. Harvard has refused the White House’s demands to allow external oversight over faculty hiring and curriculum decisions — and sued, twice, when the administration tried to punish the University for its refusal. But Harvard has also made changes to programs criticized by federal Republicans and has been in negotations over a possible legal settlement with the Trump administration since June.

“We’re one of the world’s most powerful institutions. Harvard can definitely do a lot more,” challenger and recent graduate Ayah Al-Zubi ’23 said.

The Harvard College Democrats, an undergraduate group, endorsed two Council candidates and one Cambridge School Committee candidate last month. Both of their endorsed Council candidates, Al-Zubi and Stanislav Rivkin, spoke at the forum.

About 30 people, mostly Harvard students, attended. Students registered in Massachusetts can vote in the Cambridge elections, but when the crowd was asked who was registered to vote in the state, only a handful raised their hands.

Harvard College Democrats co-president Jack W. H. Tueting ’27 said the group hosted the forum to inform students about the upcoming November elections.

“We want to make impact on the national level, but we also want to make impact here in Cambridge,” Tueting said.

“One of the best ways to do that would be to expose our students and Harvard’s campus in general with what’s happening with elections right here in Cambridge,” he added.

Allison R. McGourty ’29, a Massachusetts resident and forum moderator, said she was able to learn more about the problems facing Cambridge.

“I’ve seen the problems firsthand, so I felt like it would be really nice to have this kind of experience to really get to know the Council,” she said.

The forum focused on opioid use, transportation, and housing in Cambridge. Moderators also asked candidates to share their thoughts on Harvard’s response to the Trump administration.

“Part of what I’m doing and spending my time on Crimson Courage is trying to give Harvard the backbone that it needs and the spine that it needs to stand up,” said Councilor Patricia M.“Patty” Nolan ’80, one of the founding members of Crimson Courage, an organization launched in May by alumni to support Harvard in its response to the Trump administration.

“If we don’t, we’re in big trouble,” she added.

Challenger Ned S. Melanson — a public defender at the Cambridge District Court — said any deal Harvard could make with the Trump administration is “as good as dead on arrival.”

“They could pry DEI from my cold dead fingers,” said challenger Elizabeth Bisio, former emergency room nurse. “It’s so important to have those programs in place to make sure that we’re giving equal opportunity.”

Candidates said the forum was a way to address student voters and stand with the Harvard community.

“You can’t really tell the story of Cambridge without including Harvard, and I felt it was really important to be here,” Melanson said.

—Staff writer Ann E. Gombiner can be reached at annie.gombiner@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Dionise Guerra-Carrillo can be reached at dionise.guerracarrillo@thecrimson.com.