‘Bring Flamboyance Back’: 24 Newly-Elected House Committee Co-Chairs Gear Up For the Year

Twelve new pairs of House Committee Co-chairs were elected for the 2026 calendar year this month, marking a new year of residential leadership as Houses navigate renovations and restructured funding allocations from the Dean of Students Office.

Each House’s co-chairs will lead a committee of students that liaise with administrators of their House to manage budgets of thousands of dollars for semesterly formals, Yardfest block parties, and other House-wide events.

In interviews, several of the newly elected HoCo chairs said they hoped to improve students’ residential experiences, from ramping up rodent extermination efforts to increasing inter-grade bonding. But many said their plans are clouded by uncertainty over how upcoming funding changes at the College — which will make laundry free and increase the Student Activities Fee — could alter the flexibility in their budget.

In November, College Dean David J. Deming announced that laundry would be free for all undergraduates starting on Jan. 1, 2026 — but only in exchange for a $250 increase in the now mandatory Student Activities Fee, a tradeoff some students said they were wary of.

While Deming wrote that “100 percent of the increase” in the SAF would be used to provide House Committees and student organizations with more money, newly elected co-chairs said they were still awaiting details from the DSO regarding their budgets.

“That’s going to be the big unanswered question,” said Mikalah L. Hodge ’27, a newly elected co-chair of the Winthrop House Committee. “It’s a little shaky at the moment, so we’re waiting with bated breath.”

College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo did not respond Sunday to a request for comment regarding how the SAF changes would affect HoCo budgets in the upcoming year.

Sydney E. Massey ’27 was also elected as Winthrop HoCo chair. In the rest of River West, Eliot House elected Dev S. Ahuja ’27 and Drima P. Patel ’27, while Kirkland selected Christopher Bauge ’27 and Ella F. Niederhelman ’28, a Crimson News Editor.

Ahuja said he and Patel hope to make the House feel as close to normal as possible despite ongoing renovations, which began in June and are scheduled to conclude in Fall 2027.

“We know it’s not the same thing, but the goal is, ‘How can we make it feel like we’re not under renovation as much as possible,’ to create a semblance of the House if it wasn’t on a renovation,” he said.

Ahuja and Patel recalled going all out for their Eliot House campaign, which included a Great Gatsby themed campaign video and photoshoot with a scaffolding-clad Eliot House in the background.

“I think it brought the House together,” Patel said. “A lot of people saw our posters and were like, ‘Wait, this is so cool. I can’t imagine what you guys are gonna do when you are HoCo chairs.’”

“The fact that we went above and beyond sets the tone,” Ahuja added.

In Kirkland House, Bauge and Niederhelman pointed to residents’ concerns about noise from Eliot House’s renovations as a primary issue heading into the spring semester.

“It’s definitely happening and Kirkland students are aware of it, so that’s probably the biggest concern — just guiding students through that process and making sure that their concerns are heard and listened to,” Niederhelman said.

Bauge said he also looked forward to soliciting student feedback on the upcoming renovations in Kirkland House, which are scheduled to begin while Eliot House renovations are still ongoing.

“How are you going to set up the House community to stay strong over that time, to make the younger Kirkland residents, as we get older, feel like they’re not getting forgotten?” Bauge said.

In River Central, Quincy’s new co-chairs are Jacqueline E. Metzger ’27 and Ava H. Rem ’27, a Crimson Blog Chair. Avani B. Rai ’27 — a Crimson News Executive — and Eman H. Abdurezak ’27 will chair the Lowell HoCo. Adams HoCo will be chaired by Amelia “Millie” S. Clark ’27 and Malachi C. Miller ’27.

Miller said he was excited to “bring flamboyance back to Adams” by encouraging residents to make full use of spaces, from the gym to the library and art room.

“Everyone wants to live in Adams, and so I think our job is really easy,” he added.

Metzger and Rem said they were drawn to Quincy House from when they first entered, a connection now shaping their new leadership role.

“The moment that I stepped foot in Quincy House, it was so quirky and so warm and so comfortable, and there was so much to be involved in,” Metzger said. “It just felt like this perfect fit.”

In River East, Raina Y. Wang ’28 and Matteo Markel ’28 will lead Leverett HoCo. Dunster students elected Ellen P. Cassidy ’27 — a Crimson Multimedia Chair — and Gavriela B. Kalish-Schur ’28, while Thomas E. Scheetz ’28 and Lily Xu ’28 will chair Mather HoCo.

Markel said he hoped to address what he perceived to be a lack of inter-grade bonding in Leverett House.

“The struggle that we have is that we still don’t know a lot of upperclassmen,” he said. “How do we make sure that from the moment freshmen find out that they’re in Leverett on Housing Day, that this becomes a place that they can connect with from the get go?”

For Mather House, Scheetz said he would focus on addressing the persistent problem of mice and rodent appearances in the dining hall and other common spaces.

“A big issue right now in Mather is the rats in the dining hall,” he said. “I literally said at the elections, ‘I will lay the traps myself.’”

In the Quad, Zay J. Gomez ’27 and Max Wagner ’27 are Cabot HoCo’s new co-chairs. Currier residents elected Mark G. McDonald ’28 and Jake Dixon ’28, while Pforzheimer HoCo will welcome Sarah Bellagat ’27 and Solidea A. Ficco ’27 as its new co-chairs.

Bellagat said she wanted to make Pforzheimer a more attractive destination for peers in River Houses.

“So many people love to talk crap about the Quad,” Bellagat said. “It’s like, ‘No, dude. Come here. It’s so great. Life is amazing.’”

Wagner expressed optimism that the recently-announced changes to the SAF, which has long been subject to student opt-outs, will improve HoCo budgeting.

“We hopefully will have more money than previously because of the new changes,” Wagner said. “At the minimum, it’ll be more predictable, I think, because now that student activities is a set amount and you can’t waive it, we’ll have a better prediction of what we could spend.”

—Staff writer Wyeth Renwick can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @wzrenwick.

—Staff writer Claire L. Simon can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @ClaireSimon.