In a stunning turn of events former Undergraduate Council "old boy" Joshua D. Liston '95 yesterday joined up with a growing council reform party whose influence could have undermined his upcoming presidential bid.

The current council Vice President decided to ally himself with the day-old Movement to Reform the U.C. (MRUC) because he says he is committed to its three stated goals, at least one of which he and vocally opposed last year.

MRUC's goals include allowing students to withhold their entire contributions to Council funds--rather than just the current five---by simply checking a box on their term bills.

But Liston had firmly defended the Council's main funding source last spring in an effort to eradicate the easy check-box option: "Why should a student get to enjoy Yardfest and all the benefits the U.C. has provided for them for " he asked the Crimson on March .

MRUC leaders like David V. Bonfili '96 are guarded in their acceptance of Liston's sudden about-face.

"We're taking people at their word," Bonfili said of the new additions to MRUC's 26 original members. "We'll have to leave it to the jurisdiction of public opinion to see whether these people do indeed embrace reform."

MRUC's other reform initiatives include adding another set of general elections second semester and rewriting the council's year-old constitution so that members can more effectively lobby for student interests.

Liston, who was a major player in several of last spring's controversies and is known for defending the status-quo, hesitated to define MRUC as a "party" even after he had joined.

"That implies some kind of inner structure," said . "The point is more of a pledge to undergraduates at Harvard that at least the people that sign on are committed to the three stated goals of the MRUC."

"There've always been cliques on the council," Liston said. "This is just a more public clique."

Some MRUC members openly expressed that Liston, a close political ally of former Council Chair Michael P. Beys '94, could change his colors--and his clique--so fast.

"I don't think anyone will buy Josh Liston as a reformer," said Dudley House council candidate William '86-'95.

But MRUC's reforms are so basic that Liston's support shouldn't determine their success, members say. They don't expect much opposition to their proposals once regular council meetings get underway next week.

"Hopefully, the three reforms will be passed almost immediately," Bonfili said. "More than anything, this will show people that there is a sizable proportion of U.C. members committed to reform."

MRUC is "intended as an apolitical party," Bonfili said. "The hope is we'll be able to cut through the politicking and bureaucracy on the council."

But based on the reactions of some other council candidates, Bonfili's earnest ideal of real and lasting reform may be an impossibility in the wake of last year's schism.

"[Right now] they want to do a whole bunch of things that no one is opposed to," said former Council Secretary Randall A. Fine '96. So superficial success might be easy for MRUC, he added, but touchier issues will surely create harder fights.

Fine, who was also close to Beys and was clearly implicated in several council scandals in 1993, hopes to return to the council after an unsuccessful North House bid last year