Discouraged by Federal Politics, Harvard Students Mobilize in Local Elections

Harvard students discouraged about national politics are finding hope at the local level, throwing themselves into Cambridge politics during the most competitive municipal elections in a generation.

Nearly 40 candidates are running to help lead Cambridge, with 18 people running for six School Committee seats and 20 for nine City Council seats. As they gear up for the Nov. 4 election day, many Harvard-affiliated candidates are looking to Harvard students as a source of manpower.

Stanislav Rivkin and Lilly Havstad are two such candidates. Rivkin — a City Council challenger — is the Associate Director of Admissions at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Havstad — a School Committee challenger — is a visiting scholar at the Center for African Studies.

Stephen Early, an architectural student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design who works on graphic design and social media for Rivkin’s campaign, said he decided to get involved after feeling “existential anxiety” about federal politics.

“Politics is no longer able to feel as removed as it had,” he said.

“Harvard being a target really amplified that feeling for a lot of students,” Early added. “We could see direct connections between programs being cut off or changed, and students, some of my colleagues, not being able to even stay in school.”

Early encouraged other students who are discouraged about national politics to get involved.

“You can directly influence things that tie back to your community and your neighborhood, and then from there, they can sprout and grow,” he said.

Alexander H.Y. Lee ’27, who works as an event planner for the Rivkin campaign, said the turmoil at the federal level only heightens the importance of local involvement.

“It’s all national politics everywhere, and that’s kind of all we hear about,” Lee said. “It’s especially important to focus on local politics so that we can do work that affects smaller groups of people, but in meaningful ways.”

“We’re all in that Harvard bubble,” Lee added. “It’s hard to see outside of that wall, but if you do, then there’s a lot more than meets the eye.”

Lucille R. Nomaguchi-Long ’29 decided to work as Havstad’s director of research and policy after Havstad spoke at the First-Year Urban Program.

“She gave a speech, or a talk, on helping communities and determining whether you’re an outsider or an insider and being able to help provide help,” Nomaguchi-Long said.

Liv Birnstad ’27, who also works for Havstad, said she is “really passionate about the quality of education that students in public schools receive.”

“There are many things right now happening in Cambridge that are not producing the best outcomes for those students,” she added. “I just really felt it necessary to invest my time in a project like this.”

But individual students are not the only ones who are getting involved. Student organizations, like the Harvard College Democrats and the Harvard Undergraduate Urban Sustainability Lab, have also taken an interest in local politics.

The Harvard Dems will release endorsements in the coming week and plan to host their Cambridge City Council candidate forum in early October.

“There’s a lot happening in the world right now, especially with Trump and all his crackdowns and ICE, and the candidates that we’re endorsing are obviously against that,” Mandy Zhang ’27, a former Crimson News editor, said. “We’re working to leverage youth power across all of our members.”

HUUSL, which has encouraged students to get involved in Cambridge even before election season, will also be hosting a candidate forum on October 21.

Ira Sharma ’28, the co-leader of HUUSL’s Cambridge Civic Task Force, said that Harvard students have a responsibility to get involved with municipal elections.

“Harvard is Cambridge, and Cambridge is Harvard,” Sharma 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.