Undergraduate Council presidential candidate Daniel P. Bicknell ’13 and vice-presidential running mate Pratyusha Yalamanchi ’13 discuss their platform with a student outside Annenberg.

When Undergraduate Council presidential candidate Daniel P. Bicknell ’13 stands next to his vice-presidential running mate Pratyusha Yalamanchi ’13, the first thing that comes to mind is their vast height difference.

Behind their campaign banner, 6-foot-3-inch Bicknell holds one end of the sign at arm’s length while 5-foot-1-inch Yalamanchi peers over the sign at the other end.

But with ten semesters of combined UC experience, established connections with administrators across campus, and a vision to build communities at Harvard, this unlikely pair compensates for their height gap by seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to improving student life.

Bicknell and Yalamanchi say they have a “realistic” platform, pushing for extended use of current social spaces and funding for student-initiated activities.

Their friends say that “D and P” are more than just good leaders—they genuinely care about their classmates and aspire to bring change that is attainable in the next year.

‘DP for UC’

In front of the Science Center, Bicknell and Yalamanchi have only seven minutes at the top of each hour to make their ticket known to passersby.

Bicknell shouts “Vote DP for UC” in his booming voice as Yalamanchi approaches students with a huge smile to hand out flyers.

Their slogan, “Proven leaders delivering results,” refers to the candidates’ work on UC committees since they were freshmen.

Back then, their promises were merely youthful ventures, such as bringing hand sanitizing stations to dorms during the swine flu peak and extending brain break hours.

Now, with those accomplishments in hand, the two seek to effect change on a larger but still reasonable scale.

The ticket’s mission to build communities at Harvard is bolstered by a focus on continuing the Forum for Change initiated by the outgoing president and vice-president Senan Ebrahim ’12 and Bonnie Cao ’12. Bicknell and Yalamanchi also push for improving the social experience for freshmen by finding ways to improve their access to current social spaces.

“We know that a campus center and open student-administration exchanges are goals to work towards, [but] not things we can promise,” says Yalamanchi, emphasizing their practical platform. “While we’re definitely striving towards those greater goals, we’re first picking at the low-hanging fruit.”

‘BICDREAMY’

Originally from Boca Raton, Fla., Bicknell is the eldest of three and has always been passionate about sustainable initiatives and educating people about the environment. Friends say that his dedication to the UC extends to attending UC-sponsored hockey games on Friday nights and choosing impromptu UC meetings over pre-planned dinner dates.