Profile of Dreyfus

Some presidential candidates of the Undergraduate Council have posters promising more rock concerts, feedback cards and better advising. Flyers posted by Benjamin W. Dreyfus '01make no promises. They simply ask, "You say you want a revolution?"

The only presidential contender to get outright laughs at Thursday night's candidate debate, tie-dye-wearing, pony-tailed Dreyfus boasts a "bellicose" platform--he wants to declare war on developing nations--that have convinced many students that his candidacy is one big joke.

But strangely, that's not detracting from his appeal. He's technically snagged more student group endorsements than half of his opponents, and he says his "grassroots campaign" effort is attracting support.

You say you want a revolution? Ben Dreyfus might just be it.

Leading the Crusade

Asked about his campaign and generic campus issues, Dreyfus tends to quote directly from his written platform, speaking in short, loud bursts as he elucidates his vision of his council presidency.

Leading the Crusade

Actually, he says he is aiming a bit higher than head of the council. In an e-mail to supporters, Dreyfus asked their support in changing the title of "student body president" to "President of Harvard University."

The cornerstone of his campaign--galvanizing the campus by declaring World War Three--is not the typical student politician's promise. But Dreyfus insists upon the many benefits a Harvard-initiated war would bring, the least of which would be campus community.

"A lot of people complain that our generation is apathetic--that there are no huge issues that unite people. We need to create those issues," he says.

Dreyfus says a full-blown war would even alleviate the problem of crowded Houses.

"Why do we crowd our upperclassmen into twelve Houses when we could add a thirteenth randomized option to the freshman housing lottery and draft a diverse multicultural militia?" his platform reads.

Taking a Stand

New ideas are only half of any platform, and this year's council presidential candidates are facing tough questions on controversial issues from the council's past and present.

Dreyfus has no trouble taking a side unlike anyone else's.

Last semester's Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) bill in the council proposed more support for Harvard students in ROTC and a task force to work on allowing the group back on campus.

Some students said the bill was a tacit endorsement of the discriminatory "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding homosexuals in the military--a side which Dreyfus supports, if only for "practical purposes."

"I think the idea of excluding people on the basis of sexual orientation is not something we can afford to do in a state of crisis," he says.

Dreyfus appears to have responses prepared for current council issues as well, ranging from Living Wage ("I have never felt that the old barter economy, when wages in the form of sheep and goats were in fact 'living,' is something we should return to," he says) to a termbill fee increase ("Increasing it to $50 smacks of tokenism," he claims, suggesting that the whole of each student's yearly tuition go directly to the council).

But his opinion on council downsizing, an issue appearing on this week's ballot, is more abstract.

"I think it's important for a president to have a consensus," he says thoughtfully. "I'm for downsizing not by numbers, but by specific people."

He refuses to name names, but he rapidly explains his downsizing vision in mysterious language.

"I will call upon student group support and forcibly expel those who should not be there--who do not believe in what is right," he says unwaveringly.

And who will determine who doesn't belong on council?

"That will become evident," he says.

Grassroots Campaigning

Students may be laughing, but Dreyfus's campaign is attracting support--if from untraditional sources. In the race for endorsements from student groups, he is smack in the middle of the pack of candidates.

The Society of Physics Students (SPS) and Demon Magazine are both officially backing Dreyfus. But like most of the students at large, even some of his endorsers aren't taking him too seriously.

"I really wouldn't say this was a thoughtful decision by an entire group to endorse him as a candidate," says Liam McAllister '00, co-president of SPS. Dreyfus is a physics concentrator and treasurer of the group.

McAllister says the vote taken among the 12 members who attended the meeting shouldn't be taken as a serious issue.

"There was some matter of people just saying, 'C'mon, put up your hands,'" McAllister said.

And according to former Demon president Jeremy N. Smith '00, the decision to endorse was made by the group's current president, Robby Bershow '01, without consulting the magazine's staff.

But Dreyfus says he has had few problems soliciting help for his campaign effort, whatever their motives.

"Based on the reaction of people I've talked to, it's getting support," he says.