For the second year in a row, a slate of candidates backed by Harvard Forward â a student and alumni organization working to call attention to climate action and racial justice issues within the Universityâs governance boards â will appear on the election ballot for the Board of Overseers, Harvard Forward announced Monday.
The candidates nominated by petition for the Board of Overseers â the Universityâs second-highest governing body â include global health and gender specialist Yvette O. Efevbera, Indigenous activist Megan H. Red Shirt-Shaw, and Brazilian climate policy expert Natalie Unterstell.
In order to secure spots on the election ballot as petition candidates, the three needed to garner at least 2,987 signatures â one percent of eligible voters â by Feb. 3. They will now contend with the eight candidates put forward by Harvard Alumni Associationâs Nominating Committee in the Board election, which will take place from April 1 to M
Image courtesy of Harvard Forward
Harvard Forward has announced that its three petition candidates have collected enough signatures to qualify for the balloting for the Board of Overseers this spring and that the nomiating signatures have been validated by the University. The deadline for submitting petitions is this Wednesday, February 3, so the University will wait until then to prepare and then release the final roster of candidates (once a few formalities are completed): the eight Harvard Alumni Association nomination committee candidates, and now the Harvard Forward slate.
All 11 would-be Overseers have responded to a
Harvard Magazine questionnaire seeking their views about the University’s challenges and opportunities, the board’s role, their pertinent experiences and expertise, and their reasons for running now.
Following the successful election of three candidates last year, Harvard Forward is again vying for seats on the Board of Overseers, the Universityâs second-highest governing body.
Harvard Forward â a student and alumni organization working to call attention to climate action and racial justice issues within the Universityâs governance boards â announced on Nov. 17 that its 2021 slate of candidates includes three Harvard alumni: Yvette O. Efevbera, Megan H. Red Shirt-Shaw, and Natalie Unterstell.
The Harvard Alumni Association Nominating Committee announced on Jan. 12 eight nominees who will appear on the ballot. The eight nominations do not include the three candidates Harvard Forward proposed this year.
Yvette O. Efevbera is a graduate of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Megan H. Red Shirt-Shaw is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Natalie Unterstell is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
2020 was a year of record-breaking voter turnout. Two-thirds of registered voters in the U.S. cast ballots for president â the highest percentage in 120 years. And over the summer, 43,531 Harvard alumni voted in Harvard Universityâs Board of Overseers election â the highest total in recent memory â after robust get-out-the-vote efforts by the grassroots Harvard Forward campaign. But even in the best of years, turnout in Harvardâs elections is pitifully low: this modern-day ârecordâ represented roughly 15 percent turnout.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/ Caroline Culler
In light of the importance of the annual election for members of Harvard’s Board of Overseers and heightened interest stemming from last year’s vigorously contested results and the possibility of a similar contest this year
Harvard Magazine is providing enhanced coverage. We asked each candidate presented by the HAA nominating committee and each member of the Harvard Forward slate seeking a place on the ballot by petition to answer these questions:
• What are the most important challenges facing the University and what are its most significant opportunities?
• What is the Board of Overseers’ role in Harvard’s response to those challenges and in its efforts to realize those opportunities?