Maats cites the case of Bert Vaux, an associate professor of linguistics, who did not received tenure last year, as one example of the administration ignoring a professor’s teaching ability in granting tenure.

Getting the Job Done

Vaux, who was Maats’ professor in Social Analysis 34, “Knowledge of Language,” has endorsed Maats’ candidacy based on his personality.

Vaux says Maats’ “Euro-brat background” has given him the necessary creativity and confidence to deal with Harvard’s administration.

“[The administration’s] first line of defense is always to play on the naïveté of the students who don’t know the inner workings of the system and use dean-speak to cow you,” Vaux says. “I don’t think that would work on him.”

Maats and Fox say the council has become too passive in its efforts to lobby the administration for change.

“Everything people are campaigning about has been an issue for 10 to 20 years,” Maats said. “We make polite requests and we get refused.”

Maats says the council needs to focus more on instituting changes than passing broad resolutions.

“[The council] has become more like a better-funded Harvard Model Congress,” Maats says. “It’s become more concerned with the business of student government, and the practice and fun of being in government rather than achieving what it was elected to do, which is represent our interests.”

The candidates say they think they can lobby the administration more effectively than past council leaders because of their “charisma.” But they say their use of alumni and negative publicity would be the key to their effectiveness on the council.

Maats says he would directly solicit donations from alumni for council initiatives. Maats says he is qualified to lead this fundraising because he raised money for numerous charities at Eton.

“The generation of alumni that are coming up to gift-giving age now are wealthy alumni from the ’60s who experienced frustration with the administration,” Maats says.

If these two steps fail to bring the administration behind the council’s cause, Maats and Fox say they would contact national media organizations in an attempt to “embarrass the administration.”

Eric J. Powell ’04, the council’s treasurer, says Maats and Fox can offer a valuable new perspective on council affairs—but their lack of experience on the council could be a liability.

“It’s always a good idea to have fresh ideas,” Powell says. “But after you have the ideas, you need to implement them, which is where insiders excel.”