Sunday night's Undergraduate Council executive elections represent what may be the biggest shake-up of council leadership in the organization's 14 year history.

The four newly elected officers half a combined total of two-and-a-half years of council experience.

Newly elected President Robert M. Hyman '98-'97 has served one year, half of it as chair of the council's Finance Committee.

Vice-president Brian R. Blais '97 has also served one year, half of it as treasurer. Edward B. Smith '97, the new treasurer, has served only one semester, and Lamelle D. Rawlins '99 was elected secretary at her very first council meeting.

Many on the council attribute the sudden change in leadership to the impact of the Progressive Undergraduate Council Coalition (PUCC), a group launched last spring which is dedicated to reforming the council and redefining its agenda.

Veteran council members and some defeated officer candidates said they feared the general electiorr results would lead to partisan block voting, inexperienced decision making and an end to real debate over issues.

In the council's general elections last week, 32 PUCC candidates were voted into office, most of whom had not been on the council before. Six of the 21 first-year seats on the council are held by PUCC members.

Combining the PUCC vote with 15 other first-year members creates a block of 47 votes--a majority on the council if they were to all votes together.

Defeated vice-presidential candidate and former Campus Life Committee Co-chair Rudd W. Coffey '97 said there seemed to be a common thread tying together different vote counts throughout the evening.

Results of run-off elections in the presidential, vice-presidential and secretary races were 51 to 27, 47 to 29 and 48 to 24, respectively.

"Generally this says the freshmen and PUCC supported one person [in each race]," Coffey said.

Jonathan P. Feeney '97, the defeated presidential candidate who seemed the front-runner coming in, said PUCC's role in the elections was too partisan.

"PUCC walked into the room knowing exactly who they were going to vote for," said Feeney, who co-chaired the Campus Life Committee with Coffee and is entering his fifth semester on the council.

"They voted as a block," he said. "It's their right to do that, but it's exclusively politics."

PUCC organizer Jedediah S. Purdy '97 said he agreed PUCC tended to vote as a block, but members did so of their own accord. Purdy was defeated in recent council elections but maintains an important role in PUCC leadership.

"In the presidential and vice-presidential elections, while PUCC did not determine in advance to support one candidate or another, members spontaneously coalesced around one candidate or the other," Purdy said.