Lurie thinks it’s an asset that his extracurricular interests extend beyond the council. On his website, he speaks of the insular nature of some representatives, criticizing the council for “allocating too much money to UC bureaucrats’ pet projects.”

Joshua A. Barro, finance committee chair, has gone head to head with Lurie on many council issues.

“[Lurie] is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite member of council,” Barro says. “Sometimes he is refreshing, sometimes he’s rude.”

Lurie wants to permanently increase the amount of council funding available for grants to student groups. He says that Barro has misleadingly claimed credit for this year’s increase in the grant fund.

“They found old bank accounts, and it was a one-time influx of money,” Lurie says.

Political Science

A chemistry concentrator and science course assistant at the Extension School, Lurie hopes his “scientific mindset” will attract Harvard’s science students to his campaign.

“Science may move across the river. All the other candidates are doing social studies, humanities,” he says. “They don’t care if a lab is moved across the river—they’ll never have to go there.”

Greater faculty diversity is also a unique aspect of Lurie’s platform, though not in the traditional sense.

Lurie considers himself a liberal but wants to ensure that students hear from all sides of the political spectrum.

“When I say diversity, I don’t just mean minority groups. More women are needed, and there’s a dearth of conservative professors. Harvey Mansfield, Ruth Wisse, Martin Feldstein, can you name another one?” he says. “I think you need professors who challenge you.”

Lurie is seeking endorsements from a number of liberal, scientific and pre-professional campus groups, though he demurred from naming any at the time of an interview for this article.

Parts of Lurie’s platform—such as instituting universal keycard access and building a student center—mirror those of candidates with more experience on the council, but Lurie pledges that he is actually going to follow through on such campaign promises.

Though his opponents have released comprehensive policy plans, Lurie emphasizes the tight focus of his seven-point program.

But this platform seemed to elude Lurie at Thursday’s presidential debate. “I don’t have vision or ideas, but I have balls,” he told a packed audience in Science Center A. “I will bitch and moan on your behalf.”