Student organizations are also taxed by a lack of social space, says Akanksha, who played a large role in the creation of Cabot Café.
She says the key to turning new and underutilized spaces into valuable environments for socializing is to “get students to care about the space.” In the case of the café, that meant student involvement in the selection of food, music, and art.
To further ease social life on campus, Akshay and Akanksha say they will demand a more standardized and lenient party policy that allows for spontaneity.
“You shouldn’t have to register a party three days in advance. We are college students, and our party policy should reflect our lifestyle,” Akshay says.
PUTTING OUT FIRES
Beyond student groups, Akshay and Akanksha say they will take on a host of topical issues.
“Focusing on mental health, sexual health, safety—these are the things that the UC needs to be doing on a large leadership level, because these are the issues that really affect students,” Akshay says.
But their platform includes few concrete proposals for making the Council involved in these areas.
“There are a large number of issues that are messy and intangible, that don’t have a defined set of steps that you can take to fix them,” Akshay says.
“Those are the issues that we really want to tackle, because those are the issues that the UC has been avoiding.”
Supporter Rebecca J. Margolies ’13 says that the Sharmas’ dual priorities—supporting student social life and fostering well-being on campus—go hand in hand.
“This school can feel fragmented and lonely, and Akshay and Akanksha are dedicated to changing that, to making Harvard a place where everyone can feel welcome and belong,” says Margolies, a fellow Cabot resident who is also an inactive Crimson photographer.
That desire to make people feel at ease spreads to the Sharmas’ vision for the Council’s inner workings and its relationship with administrators.
Akshay says that as a UC representative since freshman year, he has noticed uncomfortable competition between UC representatives, something he hopes to tamp down.
He also says the relationship between the UC and the administration has historically been tense and adversarial.
During the debate, he commended current UC President and Vice President Danny P. Bicknell ’13 and Pratyusha Yalamanchi ’13 for taking steps to correct this approach.
Akshay said he would continue to build ties between the UC and the administration “so that they can work with us instead of working against us.”
While the Sharmas’ goals may be in some cases far from inflammatory, supporters believe that the ticket can accomplish its mission of cooling the flames of competition while heating up social life.
“When it comes to elections, and especially those of a collegiate nature, my major concern is that all tickets talk a lot of talk,” says Chilazi.
“My confidence in Akshay and Akanksha rests firmly in their commitment to the promises they make and the hopes they share. For them, winning the race is only day one.”