Consider Your Marshals

A senior female enters her respective dining hall to vote for class marshal. She grabs a ballot sheet, quickly looks for names she recognizes, votes, puts it in the manila envelope and leaves. Another senior does the same, and then another and so forth. All have voted, but very few take the time to glance at The Crimson's spread on the candidates lying six inches away.

Hopefully, these seniors have already informed themselves about the candidates, and hopefully the candidates are informed about the position and are running for the right reasons. But I must admit that from the conversations I have been involved in this past week and people's attitudes during this election, I am a little worried and skeptical about the politics revolving around this year's election of class marshals.

Admittedly, I thought about running for class marshal. When the thought crossed my mind, I did not know much about the position, save for the fact that the marshals were elected by classmates and in a sense the "winners" would represent their class, a result which I considered to be honorable and praiseworthy. However, in speaking with friends and past marshals, I discovered that the position included tasks I personally did not want to perform if I had been elected. In addition, I felt that the position involved certain ideologies, certain passions which I do not possess.

Aside from being recognized as president or vice president and so forth of your class, the position of class marshal is a lifetime one. You will always have to have the responsibilities. According to the information sheet provided by the folks at Wadsworth House, the first class marshals (those two students with the highest number of votes) "work with the Harvard Alumni Association and the Radcliffe College Alumnae Association planning the social activities of the Class." Although planning the social activities for the memorable senior week sounds fun, it is the least of the responsibilities and the nicest one.

Class marshals in addition work with the senior Gift co-chairs, who raise money for the class. The information sheet does acknowledge that this task is a voluntary one, yet it seems to me that fundraising is one of the activities most extensively engaged in by Harvard. Just ask the people who work at the Harvard College Fund, an organization which takes up quite a number of spacious floors at 124 Mt. Auburn St. Thus fundraising is the most crucial role of the class marshal--without it, I doubt the position would be as illustrious in the eyes of Harvard and the marshal would certainly not be as useful to the school.

Candidates: I hope that all of you love Harvard to death. I hope you have nothing but good things to say about it. I pray that it is understood that, aside from being the most popular person for a year, you are also responsible for much more than smiling, gloating and feeling cool and the responsibilities are not as enjoyable. Although I do agree that for some people, the position of class marshal is an honor, it is also one which requires a lot of passion and genuine love for the school for which you will be begging for money during the next 60 years of your life.

Voters: I hope that we all do not end up regarding this election solely as a popularity contest, but that we inform ourselves about the experiences the candidates have had at Harvard and the dedication they have shown to the Harvard community. Although I would love to see my friends "win" as much as the next person, I want them to "win" for the right reasons, because they want to represent Harvard and they want to commit to the school for life because they have benefited so much from the school.

I do wish that seniors take this election and these issues seriously, because a lifetime commitment of begging people for money is a really long one, much longer than the two-hour shifts at a homeless shelter or the 10 hours a week of an ethnic club some seniors have dedicated time to. I doubt that the class marshal position is half as beneficial or rewarding.

Nancy Raine Reyes' column appears on alternate Saturdays.