IOP Elects New Student Governing Board

After an open, democratic election that diverged from its traditional closed selection process, the Institute of Politics (IOP) announced yesterday the members of its newly elected student governing body.

The elections on Tuesday, a month after IOP Director Sen. David H. Pryor announced he was disbanding the Student Advisory Committee (SAC), were defined by brief speeches and voting by all active IOP members.

"It's very different from the [previous] SAC selection process because everyone involved in the IOP had a chance to vote," said E. Clarke Tucker '03, a newly elected member of the director's task force. "The results are different because the people elected have more of a electoral mandate than they have ever had before."

Robert F. McCarthy '02, who was elected president, will lead the student programming committee as it embraces its new structure next semester.

"We've been through tough times, and we have a lot of work ahead of us, but the result of our efforts will be an improved IOP," McCarthy said.

Pryor said he thought the new process of leadership selection would benefit the IOP.

"I think that the election has generated some new leadership talent and also some excitement," he said. "We will be going into the spring semester attempting to draft a framework of student government for the institute."

Most students involved expressed the hope that democratic elections would increase student involvement for those who were not elected. Some students said previous leadership positions, selected by SAC members, turned students away from the IOP.

"For those who did not get elected this time, there's plenty for them to do," Pryor said.

Patrick C. Toomey '03, who was elected chair of the fellows committee, said he found the elections almost too open.

"I found it ironic that of the 13 positions, seven were uncontested in an election that was supposed to be the epitome of democracy at the IOP," he said.

Also elected Tuesday were Heather A. Woodruff '03, Theresa M. House '04 and Adam J. Wienner '04. They received the most votes in the respective pools of candidates running for the first-year and sophomore positions on the director's task force.

The remainder of the undergraduate component of the task force will be Eugene Krupitsky '02 and Francisco J. Flores '02, the only juniors who had ran for the positions.

Five other students ran uncontested Tuesday. Shankar Duraiswamy '02 will chair the Harvard Political Union next semester, while M. Beth Kytle '02 will become chair of the internships comittee. Joshua I. Weiner '03 will be chair of the Forum committee and Heather A. Crossner '03 will serve as chair of the community action committee. Sandhya Ramadas '03 will assume directorship of the study groups committee.

Travis F. Batty '02, who ran against McCarthy for president, said that he thought that the election, while rushed, turned out well.

"I wish we could have had more warning before the speeches so that we could have had more attendance, but I thought the process was handled very well," Batty said. "Only time will tell, but I hope everyone will stay involved."

Pryor said he had not yet announced the staff members or graduated SAC chairs who will also serve on the task force.

Pryor said he was very pleased with the outcome of the IOP's first democratic elections.

"We had splendid candidates seeking each position," he said. "I was just saddened by the fact that some people had to win and some had to lose. We had some really fine individuals; whether they won or lost, they are going to make a fine contribution to the Institute of Politics."

The IOP has not decided whether democratic elections will be held at the end of next semester.

Although exact numbers were not available, students involved with the election process estimated that about 50 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in the election.

--Staff writer Sarah A. Dolgonos can be reached at dolgonos@fas.harvard.edu.