n the night of House Committee elections, Lowellians, true and blue, pack into a picturesque common room. Students squish onto couches as Trader Joe’s snacks spill over the tables. A slideshow mirrored on the TV screen boasts the year’s “53+ events,” each one orchestrated by the Lowell House Committee.

At the center of it all is Behruz Mahmudov ’26, donning a regal blue Lowell tie, purported to be 100% silk.

From Sophomore Representative to Stein Chair to Co-Chair of Lowell HoCo, Behruz has made it his mission to make Lowell feel more like home for its residents.

His drive for connection stems from his roots, having been born and raised in Uzbekistan with a large family. “My great grandma had eight kids, and all those eight kids had eight kids, so I grew up with a huge family,” he says.

At Harvard, he wanted to recreate that sense of belonging.

“I really yearned for that communal and that sense of everyone being there, supporting you and having your back,” Behruz says.

While Behruz considers himself “honored and mildly concerned” at being awarded the title of “Most House Spirit,” others around him feel that the title suits him perfectly.

“I’m honestly not surprised at all,” says Keneil H. Soni ’26, a fellow Lowellian and Behruz’s roommate. “He really bleeds the Lowell stag, and he’s definitely so deserving of it.”

“When I think of House spirit, I think of Behruz,” says Pranav Ramesh ’26, one of Behruz’s suitemates.

“The one big vibe that I get from him is that he’s always a community person,” Pranav adds.

This sense of community can sometimes manifest as spectacle. Last year, Behruz helped orchestrate Bacchanalia, Lowell’s spring formal, complete with firebreathers, live snakes, and Lowell House Faculty Dean David I. Laibson ’88 in a toga. “That was just something that was so extremely out of the ordinary,” Keneil says. “It just personifies Behruz in the sense that he’s going to get the craziest ideas done, and he’ll do it in a way that gets people excited and gets people energized.”

But beyond flashy events, Behruz is constantly finding new ways to ground Lowell in its people. “He’s always trying to find ways to make Lowell better,” Keneil says.

One initiative Behruz has spearheaded arose from a conversation with a previous HoCo Chair, who noted how Lowellians often struggled to identify one another at Lowell Tea, a weekly event hosted in the Lowell Faculty Deans’ residence but open to the entire Harvard community. In response, Behruz championed the production of blue Lowell ties, among other merchandise.

“I know Adams does boxers, which are really funny, and I think a tie fits Lowell’s vibe and history,” Behruz says. Now, he hopes more students will wear them on Thursdays to Lowell Tea, beginning a new tradition for the House.

For Lowellians, the ties serve as a tangible piece of house identity. As Pranav says, “You want to graduate from Lowell House with a Lowell tie. That’s such a small detail, but that’s so incredibly thoughtful of him to put out.”

This sense of thoughtfulness punctuates other parts of Behruz’s life. A joint concentrator in Chemistry and Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Behruz serves as a Teaching Fellow for both “Chemistry 17: Principles of Organic Chemistry” and “Chemistry 27: Organic Chemistry of Life,” where he brings his signature optimism to stressed pre-meds. He notes proudly that he was once dubbed the “MVP of Chem 17” on Sidechat.

His philosophy for House life is to always show up. “It’s very easy to just smile and say hi to somebody,” Behruz says.

“Do unto others as you would do unto yourself,” he adds.

When he isn’t arranging for live animals, writing irresistible pub emails on “Bacch-talk,” or teaching others the nuances of reaction mechanisms, Behruz enjoys reflecting on his experiences through poetry. “A lot of my friends, even some of my close friends, are really shocked that I do poetry,” he says. But it’s easy to imagine the same care with which he approaches the people around him being applied to language.

Behruz will soon leave Lowell’s bells behind as he plans to study abroad and ultimately pursue medical school. But his legacy of silk ties and smiles will continue to ring.

He encourages future Lowellians to lean into the community that Lowell offers: “That’s how you accidentally meet your best friends, somehow convince Lowell to bring alpacas to the courtyard, and suddenly end up being a senior with ‘Most House Spirit.’”

To Behruz, Lowell will always hold a very special place in his heart. “Lowell gave me the people I now can’t imagine my life without,” he adds.

— Magazine writer Elane M. Kim can be reached at [email protected].