"That's the way it should be," said Alyssa B. Murphy '00.

However, when asked whether Harvard should impose quotas for the future, should this election result in a unbalanced group of marshals (all eight could be male), opinions were mixed. Some felt that the college would have the onus to step in to equalize the process, while others were in favor of simply letting the student body decide on the candidates.

Class marshals have a two-fold responsibility. They plan events for seniors during the year and coordinate senior week before graduation, which includes choosing a speaker for Class Day, the day immediately preceding Commencement.

After graduation they act as alumni representatives, planning reunions and raising money from their class. As reasons for running, the finalists were split between citing present responsibilities and future ones.

"I wanted to be connected to Harvard after graduation for the purpose of giving our class a voice for the future," said Sameera Fazili '00.

Other finalists simply said that they wanted to be a part of planning senior week because that was the last impression the class would have of Harvard.

But the finalists shared a belief that class marshal was not a position to campaign for. "Not campaigning is the whole point of marshal elections," said Terrence M. McNeil '00.