Last month’s election of Sujean S. Lee ’03 as Undergraduate Council president marks a new milestone in the council’s quiet—and perhaps permanent—jettisoning of its liberal activist past.

Lee and her running mate Anne M. Fernandez ’03 have pledged to continue in the tradition of current President Paul A. Gusmorino ’02, who has led the council through what has been perhaps its most efficient and controversy-free semester ever by focusing entirely on student services.

And reflecting this growing trend towards student services over political advocacy, all candidates in last month’s presidential race focused their campaigns on such student-centered ideas such as a shuttle service to New York, cable television, reduced phone rates, and more big-name band concerts. Even Lauren E. Bonner ’04, a presidential candidate known for her activist past, seemed to avoid controversial political issues such as the Progressive Student Labor Movement (PSLM) and its push for a “living wage” for all Harvard employees.

With Lee carrying the Gusmorino legacy forward after a winning a landslide election and the council united behind her, it seems that social activism on the council may be dead—at least for the foreseeable future.

Staying On Track

Over the course of the semester, the council—rarely locked in debate or controversy—issued more reports on student issues than any previous council. In October, the group came close to a formal debate over the presence of the Reserve Officers Training Corps’ (ROTC) presence on campus, but Gusmorino quashed any possibility that a bill would be written for a floor debate, saying that the time spent on debate would likely be contentious and meaningless.

“I’m not opposed to people discussing it, but I don’t think anyone should bring forward a piece of legislation to the UC without undertaking substantial research in preparing it—especially for an issue as complicated as ROTC at Harvard,” he says.

Last year, the schism between the activist and student services factions on the council still existed, but under Gusmorino’s leadership, the conflict has dissipated—although some council members claim that the disappearance is simply because not many ideological debates have embroiled the campus in recent months.

But despite the noisy occupation of Mass. Hall last year by PSLM, the activist wing of the council became increasingly marginalized as Gusmorino and his small cadre of powerful executive board leaders secured an unprecedented number of student service victories.

“The liberal activist wing is dead,” former conservative council member Justin A. Barkley ’02 declares.

Defining a Role

Throughout the past decade, the council—and especially its president—have struggled to define the body’s role on campus.

With the exception of 1998-1999 council President Beth A. Stewart ’00, and her successor, Noah Z. Seton ’00—both well-known conservatives—many presidents have used their position as a bully pulpit to try and influence the University on controversial issues such as Harvard stock holdings or whether grapes harvested by allegedly unfairly treated workers should be served in the dining halls.

Robert M. Hyman ’98, the council’s first popularly elected president, used his campus prominence to push for such progressive issues as divesting the University’s investments in Nigeria, launching an ethnic studies program, anonymous HIV testing at University Health Services and the promotion of Rape Aggression Defense classes.

Hyman’s vice president, Lamelle D. Rawlins ’99, won the presidential race the next year and continued her predecessor’s legacy, leading the council through contentious debates on issues such as the morality of student protests against Chinese President Jiang Zemin.