HCS Elects First Female President

Virginia J. Beauregard '01 made Harvard history Sunday night.

The Eliot House sophomore was elected as the first female president of the Harvard Computer Society (HCS).

"I'm very happy with how things turned out," Beauregard said, "The board looks like it's going to be a great group of people."

Beauregard said she does not generally think about the gender balance in HCS, but admitted, "It certainly is a somewhat male-dominated organization." She said her election shows that there are not any barriers for women in HCS.

"I think [Beauregard's election] reflects the increased commitment to diversity that the previous boards have tried to foster, including the current one," said outgoing HCS business manager David B. Alpert '00.

About 40 of the society's 100 members voted in the annual election, in which five candidates ran for the positions of president, business manager and secretary, Alpert said.

Michael W. Bodell'00, a presidential candidate, was elected business manager. D. Britt Bolen '00 was elected secretary.

Bodell said he was enthusiastic about the new officers and the future of HCS. "The computer society is at a point where there's the potential for a lot of good to be done for the society and by the society," Bodell said. "We've had a very, very successful new crop of individuals getting involved in the organization, so from that I think we'll springboard a lot of new ideas, initiatives and projects."

The newly-elected board members will assume their posts on Feb. 3, at the beginning of spring semester.

Prior to the election, the candidates gave speeches which were followed by question and answer sessions.

The candidates then left the room while votersgave testimonials in a confidential discussionperiod. The presidential election was held afterthe discussion period.

HCS used a drop-down election formula--theoutgoing president counted votes for thepresidential election, and the unsuccessfulcandidates could then choose to run for the othertwo positions.

HCS coordinates a broad range ofcomputer-related services, providing computeraccounts for student groups and offering seminarson how to use UNIX accounts and HTML to make Webpages.

The group codes such projects as theUndergraduate Council marketplace, theUndergraduate Council elections and the College'sWeb page calendar.

HCS is also involved with the Cyberposiumconference and the Harvard Internet and SocietyConference.

Alpert said HCS is focusing on bringing peoplefrom all backgrounds into HCS.

"We've been determined that the HCS be not justthe stereotypical computer geeks but also be opento anyone who has an interest in technologyregardless of their computer background ordemographic background," Alpert said

The candidates then left the room while votersgave testimonials in a confidential discussionperiod. The presidential election was held afterthe discussion period.

HCS used a drop-down election formula--theoutgoing president counted votes for thepresidential election, and the unsuccessfulcandidates could then choose to run for the othertwo positions.

HCS coordinates a broad range ofcomputer-related services, providing computeraccounts for student groups and offering seminarson how to use UNIX accounts and HTML to make Webpages.

The group codes such projects as theUndergraduate Council marketplace, theUndergraduate Council elections and the College'sWeb page calendar.

HCS is also involved with the Cyberposiumconference and the Harvard Internet and SocietyConference.

Alpert said HCS is focusing on bringing peoplefrom all backgrounds into HCS.

"We've been determined that the HCS be not justthe stereotypical computer geeks but also be opento anyone who has an interest in technologyregardless of their computer background ordemographic background," Alpert said