In 1997, Beth A. Stewart '00 and her focus on student issues won a narrow victory in the Undergraduate Council elections. Last month, pragmatism again defeated progressivism, but the word on everyone's lips was "community."

Candidates T. Christopher King '01 and Fentrice D. Driskell '01 introduced the topic, campaigning on a platform which called for "building a healthier Harvard."

"At the [candidates] debate in Loker, every question was coming towards us, because our platform was something new," Driskell says.

While the King-Driskell ticket was defeated by Noah Z. Seton '00 and Kamil E. Redmond '00, the candidates made a strong showing. King placed an easy second with 945 cumulative votes--nearly twice the number of votes received by third-place finisher John A. Burton '01, who had been endorsed by a number of progressive student groups.

"Our strong showing was a confirmation that people shared our vision and that this place could be healthier and stronger," King says.

But what students were really voting for when they cast a vote for "community" remains unclear.

Some have connected it to an increase in Christian student groups on campus. Others point to the College's unrelenting emphasis on individual achievement, compounded by an increasingly fragmented campus, as factors in the candidates' strong showing.

But while the reasons remain unclear, it appears that the King-Driskell campaign hit a campus nerve and identified a formidable challenge--one that both the council and the College have been unable to meet.

Spiritual Challenge?

According to King's campaign manager, William K. Moss '99, the 945 votes King received indicate that students want to feel a sense of belonging--a desire that he says is characteristic of college-age students nationwide.

"The need for community has to do with our generation. We are asking more what is real, why are we here?" Moss says. "We feel an emptiness regarding group affairs."

But many students interpreted King and Driskell's emphasis on community as evidence of a religious agenda.

While Moss casts the mood on campus in philosophical terms, he acknowledges the campaign's message was particularly well-received in religious circles.

"Many Christian morals coincide with what [King and Driskell] saw missing here on campus: a sense of brotherhood, sisterhood, camaraderie," says Moss, who is also the head Sunday school teacher at Memorial Church.

King's campaign success comes at a time of increased religious activism at Harvard.