Masoud, Pratt Pledge to Prioritize Student Concerns

Hamza T. Masoud ’26 and Avery G.D. Pratt ’26 are setting out to Make Harvard Better — “or, for short, MakHarvarBette” — in their campaign for the Harvard Undergraduate Association co-presidency. Their first step? Eliminating homework.

The pair’s campaign is centered around 11 promises to the student body, which include better weather, quicker laundry, and bringing “bigger food” to the dining halls.

Masoud — an Economics concentrator from Massachusetts — served as the residential life officer for last year's HUA administration, and Pratt is a Social Studies concentrator from New York. Both candidates write for The Harvard Lampoon, a semi-secret Sorrento Square social organization that used to occasionally publish a so-called humor magazine.

The pair met freshman year in Annenberg, where they bonded over the size of their food.

“I think it was freshman year. We were eating in Annenberg, and I had a tiny piece of chicken in front of me. It was so small. It was like this big, but like, imagine even smaller,” Masoud said, holding his hands less than two inches apart.

While other students were “just kind of dealing with it,” Masoud said Pratt was the only other person who seemed “equally as upset.” Pratt said at the time, he was eating a piece of toast that was “nine inches total squared.”

“We went over, talked about how frustrated we were with the current food size status quo,” Masoud said. “A friendship just kind of blossomed from there.”

The pair’s campaign goals stemmed from “us kind of being fed up,” according to Masoud.

“One night we were just doing our homework, and we thought to ourselves, what if there was a different way?” he said.

Masoud and Pratt said they’ve devised an action plan to enact their promises.

“We can definitely talk the talk, but it’s more important to walk the walk,” Masoud said. “It’s a pretty complex plan to abolish homework, but I think it can be done. So step one is get rid of homework. And then that’s kind of the main step, and after that, we’re hoping the result is no homework.”

Pratt added that their plan includes “hidden preliminary steps” — like step 0.5, which is “get ready, we’re about to do it.”

“And then ‘Get set’ and ‘Go,’ which are 0.6 and 0.7,” Masoud said.

“And then, of course, 1.1, ‘You’re welcome,’” Pratt added.

The pair said their campaign promises address not just their own concerns, but those they’ve heard from undergraduates.

“A lot of people we’ve talked to say, ‘I love Harvard, but I just wish there was quicker laundry.’ Or ‘I wish there were more weekends.’ Or ‘I wish there was free ice cream,’” Masoud said. All three — quicker laundry, more weekends, and free ice cream — are a part of their campaign.

“I don’t think it’s concerns they have as students. I think it’s concerns we have as individuals, as people,” Pratt said.

Other promises include public safety, recycling, implementing “one mega class” on Mondays instead of “mini classes scattered throughout the week,” and hosting Neil deGrasse Tyson at Crimson Jam.

“We can all, I think, comfortably say that we’re interested in astronomy and matters regarding the universe and its size,” Pratt explained.

Masoud and Pratt said they believe “we are at a turning point” of bringing radical change to the student body.

“I think the students are ready,” Masoud said. “The administration, personally, I don't care if they’re ready.”

—Staff writer Alexander W. Anoma can be reached at alexander.anoma@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @AnomaAlexander.

—Staff writer Chantel A. De Jesus can be reached at chantel.dejesus@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @c_a_dejesus.