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Leaving a Mark on Desks, Council

Ken Lee

Although he does not think that his upbringing directly led to his success, the economics concentrator acknowledges that it helped him to cope with his busy Harvard schedule.

"I think it certainly taught me to use my time as effectively as possible," Lee says. "So when it came to juggling a lot of different things, I could still keep my head above water, although I didn't always feel that way."

Lee's ability to tackle many tasks successfuly becomes clear in light of his academic success. He recently earned a magna-plus on his thesis and plans to attend the University of Chicago Law School next year.

Whether on the council or with his own work, Lee has always had a reputation for being on top of things. "He's probably one of the most informed people I know," Voll says. "His roommates used to joke that they knew about current events only because Ken would read the newspaper out loud."

Editor-in-chief of his high school newspaper, Lee is also a pianist--he's played for 12 years and regrets not having the time to be more musically involved at college. But his passion for campus politics did not emerge until he came to Harvard.

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"I had never been seriously involved in any politics before I got here," Lee says. "I did student council in high school--I was vice president--but it was kind of a bogus position."

Firmly controlling the council and its agenda, Lee made sure that the office of chair was never considered a "bogus position." Even when Lee's control of the council was not readily apparent through the council's accomplishments, it often showed through in the student body's perception of his tenure as chair.

Lee's personal antics sometimes drew more attention than his political stands, and his name was in effect synonymous with all actions the council took.

"People who criticize the council in general or the council vote...attach my name to that because I'm chairperson," he says. "Anyone who reads The Crimson is going to see this Ken Lee person."

But Lee seemed to enjoy his fame, even when it resembled infamy. He reminisces fondly about a mid-year incident in which he was half-jokingly criticized after telling The Crimson that he signs his names to desks in Lamont.

"I've seen a lot of people writing my name on desks," he says. "It's clearly not my handwriting. Not only in Lamont but in Emerson and Sever and things like that."

And he notes how he once saw his own face--cut from the cover of a campus weekly newsmagazine--pasted on another student's bedroom wall, right beside fashion photographs from magazines like GQ.

He says that admirer "gets a lot of comments about that and I'm not sure whether they're all complimentary. Probably not."

Even so, Lee says he does not mind when council members and other fellow students criticize him. "I know I'm trying my best, and I know and expect people to criticize me personally on something controversial," he says. "If you take these things personally it kind of breaks you down and makes it almost impossible to really function."

"If you take everything personally in a job where you're basically there to be criticized, I don't think you can make it through the year," Lee says.

Lee did make it through the year, and, until the very end, remained relatively unscathed. But the personal influence he exerted was sometimes interpreted in a different way.

Former Chair Evan J. Mandery '89 said Lee "handled the council's image very well," but added that, in shaping the agenda, Lee sometimes put his personal initiatives before those of the council.

"Ken felt that he was president [rather than just chair of the council]. He had an ideology," Mandery said. "But in his defense, a lot of people felt that way also."

And Lee says his influence on the council stems not from coercion, but from legitimate persuasion.

"It's sort of nice to be able to conceive of a way you want to do things and try to convince everyone else that it's the way they would want to do it too."

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