Focusing on student services, Chopra and Stannard-Friel have been involved with efforts such as reducing Core Curriculum requirements, improving student financial aid and making Harvard-Yale tickets free.

Chopra chaired SAC during its successful push for universal keycard access until 2:30 a.m. and was the committee’s vice chair when the House masters agreed to extend the curfew for dining hall parties until 2 a.m.

“I think there’s a tendency to want to portray them as the UC insiders—that’s not the case at all,” says Alicia Menendez ’05, a member of the duo’s campaign team. “They are just as disenchanted with things that go on here at Harvard and they have a real vision for what Harvard can be and will be under their presidency.”

Chopra and Stannard-Friel say that, despite their tenure on the council, they are committed to changing the way the council operates and are open to overhauling the council’s entire structure—an approach that Stannard-Friel sums up with the catchphrase “revamp, relook, rethink.”

“We’re going to be completely different from any of our predecessors,” Chopra says.

“Our frustration with our current jobs helps us realize what needs to change,” Stannard-Friel says.

While Chopra joined the council as a first-year, Stannard-Friel first ran for the council as a sophomore. She says this inexperience relative to Chopra gives their ticket a necessary outsider’s view of the council.

“This gave me the perspective of not always knowing what’s going on,” Stannard-Friel says.

A New Vision

Chopra, the only presidential candidate serving in his fifth term on the council, says his experience and record improving student life make him a uniquely qualified leader.

He says the Faculty’s curricular review and the impending move of some University facilities to Allston will require council leaders who can effectively voice student opinion.

The candidates say their five major goals are revitalizing Harvard social life, making the school more affordable, upgrading the academic experience, improving safety and counseling, and empowering students and student groups.

“We have a broad and deep plan of how to address the issues,” Stannard-Friel says. “Our plans are both visionary and practical.”

Their platform promises online sourcebooks to lower student expenses, student representation on the Administrative Board and a council fund devoted entirely to student parties.

“Everyone campaigns on [the same issues], but we have a real plan,” Chopra says.