“There was a lot of discomfort with taking a stance like that,” he said.

LeBoeuf said that two freshmen hoping to use information from HUDS for a nutrition calculator also faced resistance.

“People asked why we should ask the administration to give that information out,” he said, theorizing that the UC’s noncombative stance has created an institution wary of opposition.

This replaces a more adversarial pattern in which students made more demands but Harvard’s leadership often did not assent.

When he was trying to establish the Forum for Change, Ebrahim called on students and alumni to urge the administration to participate in his initiative or a comparable forum for discussion.

In total, supporters sent more than 300 emails to University President Drew G. Faust before she agreed to attend a UC meeting alongside Hammonds and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Michael D. Smith.

Despite the Council’s friendly outreach, two outgoing UC representatives said that student opinion still carries little weight in University Hall.

“It’s preposterous that the Dean of the College doesn’t interact with College students,” said outgoing Pforzheimer House Representative Justin Lanning ’12. LeBoeuf agreed, “I don’t think the administration takes the UC as seriously as it could.”

This summer, the Task Force plans to issue a recommendation to Hammonds on heeding the student voice. Hammonds will take up the proposal at her discretion.

And Bicknell said he sees further collaboration ahead, listing plans to cooperate on freshman social space, late-night programming, and more lunches.

“At the end of the day, we don’t want to burn bridges that already have gaps,” Bicknell said

—Staff writer Eliza M. Nguyen can be reached at enguyen@college.harvard.edu.