Chopra, a long-time leader in the Undergraduate Council, sees his selection to the committee as a natural fit, since he plans on a career in urban planning.

“I hope that my voice will be able to help the city plan how to make the area more friendly to students, especially in getting back home at night,” Chopra said.

Watkins said the city officials who launched the committee wanted a student to serve because students constitute one of the main users of the Square. She said, however, that it is rare for the city to invite a college student to join a committee.

This committee is not his first involvement with the city and the Square. Chopra led a movement in the Undergraduate Council last year after Palmer-Sherman’s death to place more traffic signs in the Square and, as chair of the Undergraduate Council’s Student Affairs Committee, has had numerous interactions with University and city officials.

As representative to the committee, Chopra says he hopes to address the poor sidewalks around Adams House, which he said prevents rollerblading, and the lack of a crosswalk on Mt. Auburn St. between Lowell House and Claverly Hall.

—Staff writer William M. Rasmussen can be reached at wrasmuss@fas.harvard.edu