While King and Driskell called for campus-wide unity, some students questioned whether the candidates' vision of community was one they could share.

King's religious affiliation in particular was scrutinized after an election commission member was forced to resign after sending an e-mail message to the Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship list, asking for prayers for King and Driskell.

"I never said that I was a Christian, it was used as my Achilles," says King, who is also a member of Christian Impact. King says he did not solicit the support of the election commission member.

"A lot of people felt strongly that the Chris King campaign was too Christian," Stewart says, but "a lot of people including myself felt they were really mistreated about that."

King also came under attack for his membership in a final club, an affiliation which some said undermined his ability to represent the student body as a whole. The clubs, which do not admit women, are not officially recognized by the University.

King says he still hopes to implement his vision of community.

"We plan to continue, I don't know what avenue, but I am going to seek a lot of advice and a lot of leverage on campus, says King. "Everything I talked about except the $40,000 idea we can essentially do, even though I wasn't elected." (The King-Driskell plan called for the council to spend a portion of the $40,000 in newly found council funds toward the building of a student center, as a gesture to the College of student commitment to community.)

But some council members doubt King's community message will dominate the new council.

"We all have our own definitions of how we should follow or pursue community, so I don't know that there's going to be any council working toward community," Burton says.

But with 945 supporters, the community vision mobilized by the King campaign is unlikely to disappear, and King promises the dialogue will continue.

"People believe this is the beginning of the discussion," King says.