UC Profiles: Coe-Li

Since campaigning officially began last Monday night, the Coe-Li ticket has been working hard to imprint its message across Harvard’s campus. Ubiquitous yellow posters advertise an unswerving commitment to the demands of the student body: “A UC That Sees You. Your Ideas. Your Harvard.” Wherever the ideas come from, however, the energy behind the campaign springs from its namesakes: Matthew S. Coe-Odess ’12 and Tengbo Li ’12, running mates for Undergraduate Council President and Vice President.

THE CHARMER

Coe-Odess is a self-confessed sports geek from Los Angeles, Calif., with a secret penchant for the poetry of Catullus. As a sophomore, he joined the UC out of frustration at the Council’s detachment from the insights and opinions of the student body. “I was tired of great ideas falling on deaf ears,” he says. Since then, the psychology concentrator from Kirkland House found himself at the head of the Social Life Task Force and later taking over as Parliamentarian in the wake of last year’s election controversy.

In October, he was approached by Li—the Education Committee Chair—to run together for UC President and Vice President. The rest is history, although it’s not a history the freshman Coe-Odess would have predicted for himself. “This definitely isn’t something I thought I’d be doing,” he muses.

But it really does seem to fit him. As he knocks on doors in Holworthy Central, rousing freshmen from their weekend slumber, Coe-Odess seems completely at ease, following every sentence with a chuckle and a disarming smile. Some might even liken his charm and campaigning techniques to that of current president Johnny F. Bowman ’11.

After shaking the hand of everyone in the room, he launches into his pitch for improving life for Harvard’s newest class. He tells them about expanding Annenberg’s hours and about shopping TFs. He tells them about his “pet project,” the free “Crimson Spirit” shirts given out to students on the UC’s dollar. And he tells them about his belief in listening to the students: he asks them if they have any ideas and tells them to e-mail him if they come up with any.

This part of the job is all about direct representation. Coe-Odess boasts that he visited over 500 students in October to get input for the Social Life Task Force; now he is back sharing those ideas with the rest of the freshman class.

Walking with confidence through the Yard, Coe-Odess is tirelessly friendly. By the time the votes are counted, he and Li will have knocked on every freshman door. That makes for a lot of doors, but the would-be UC President seems unfazed. “I’m a natural socializer and I’m not really BSing anyone,” he says.

Coe-Odess is escorted through Holworthy by Warner J. Wood ’14, a UC representative who supports the Coe-Li campaign—and who nearly matches the presidential candidate for enthusiasm on the trail.

Wood was drawn to the ticket by Coe-Odess’ magnetic force and believes in him strongly enough to bring him home to his fellow dorm dwellers. “I’m supporting him more for personal reasons,” Wood explains. “Even before he wanted to be UC president, Matt was the most outgoing, friendly and nice person to me. That’s the kind of image I think Harvard should be promoting.”

THE PARTNER

Coe-Odess has dropped the second part of his last name for the election, allowing a more equitable distribution of poster room with his running mate Li. The potential vice president’s background in education on the UC makes theirs a natural union.

An economics concentrator in Pforzheimer House, Li has a wide history of involvement in campus life—from the Harvard Undergraduate Research Journal to the Institute of Politics and CIVICS, a program run jointly by the Phillips Brooks House Association and IOP.

Coe-Odess is upbeat about their combination. “I’m head of social life and he’s head of education—they’re the two most important umbrellas,” he says.

Despite their different backgrounds, they’re on the same page when it comes to engaging the student body. Li’s biography on the Coe-Li campaign site includes a striking promise. “He aims to invite every Harvard student to the first UC general meeting of the spring where ideas will be shared and mounds of buffalo wings, Tengbo’s go-to meal, will be consumed.”

The ticket has come under criticism for having less experience than competitors Senan Ebrahim ’12 and Bonnie Cao ’12, but Coe-Li insists that they have enough—and that their ideas are most important.

The outcome of the long campaign will be counted this Thursday at lunchtime. Coe-Odess plans to be napping or catching up on long-neglected classwork that afternoon, resigned to whichever outcome comes his way.

They are behind in the endorsement race—the score was 23 to seven when the magazine went to print—but Coe-Li has at least claimed one important coup in Pinocchio’s Pizza and Subs.

On hearing that Coe-Li stickers were distributed on pizza boxes last Saturday night, Coe-Odess punched the air and hissed a triumphant schoolboy’s “Yes!”

“That’s the best thing that’s happened on my campaign,” he exclaims. Whether he says the same on election day is yet to be seen.