HUA Candidates Lee, Agarwal Pitch ‘Harvard for Everyone’ With Focus on Academics and Campus Life

Hyunsoo Lee ’28 and Isabelle G. Agarwal ’28 — the only ticket in which both candidates currently serve as Harvard Undergraduate Association officers — are running to “make Harvard for everyone.”

For Lee, the academic officer, and Agarwal, the residential life officer, that phrase covers an expansive slate: free MBTA passes, an overhaul of PassioGO!, extended dining hall hours, a reconsideration of grading reform at the College, more course assistants, and the reinstatement of HUA standing committees.

Lee and Agarwal said the breadth of the platform reflects a deliberate division of focus between them.

Lee called the grading policy “the single most important thing that the HUA can advocate for,” though Agarwal took a different stance.

“I don’t inherently believe that grading is the greatest issue,” Agarwal said. “My dream is to make Harvard feel like a college experience.”

The two said their differing priorities are a strength rather than a split.

“Especially because we are specializing in different parts of what we want — what changes we want in the HUA — I think it makes our case even stronger,” Lee said.

As academic officer, Lee led the HUA’s Concentration Declaration Day and launch of Harvy, an AI-powered course search tool. The bulk of his year, he said, went toward opposing grade deflation proposals. A student-wide survey he helped conduct found that nearly 85 percent of respondents opposed the policy — a figure he said is “really important” for advocacy.

Lee said he has circulated a three-page summary of the results to students and plans to share the document with administrators, and in a Sunday HUA presidential debate, he cited outreach to more than 30 faculty and 20 administrators. He has also surveyed roughly 60 faculty members on their views of the policy and said he intends to contact every professor in the FAS.

“I will work tirelessly — no matter if I get the co-president position or not — to email faculties, talk to an administration,” he said. “I have a few meetings already lined up.”

Current HUA co-president Caleb N. Thompson ’27 praised Lee’s persistence.

“Hyunsoo is really proactive and a very hard worker. He was one of the people that stood out as being really engaged and very passionate about the work that he was doing,” Thompson said. “I remember a lot of administrators talking to me about how frustrating it was to work with him, because he just is a very persistent person, and he wasn’t really willing to bend when it came to certain things.”

“He is a super strong advocate for students, and he’s very unapologetic about it,” he added.

Lee apologized in a statement if “anything was frustrating for administrators.”

“I was trying my best to advocate on behalf of students, including raising concerns about the grading policy as that is my job,” Lee wrote.

As residential life officer, Agarwal spoke with Harvard University Dining Services representatives and Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Leadership Andy Donahue about extending dining hall and Flyby hours. She also said she discussed launching free MBTA passes for undergraduates.

Agarwal also distributed international care packages to students who stayed on campus over Thanksgiving break and organized “enhanced” brain breaks during finals period in the fall, which she said involved delivering 144 pizzas to the Houses.

“This is why my running mate is amazing,” Lee said, adding that Agarwal’s willingness to take on logistical work “really shows commitment to making students’ lives better.”

Agarwal said making Harvard feel welcoming to students is central to her candidacy, and that the HUA should not shy away from confrontation with the University when students are at stake.

“We have to take a political stance to protect our students and make them feel welcomed, and that includes funding the cultural convocations, even if this is against the administration,” Agarwal said.

Both said a year inside the HUA has given them a clearer sense of what is achievable as co-presidents.

“At the end of the day, we want our platform to be realistic,” Agarwal said. “We are not a parrot of the administration, but we plan to work with the administration. And I think because we’ve been in the HUA, we are very realistic, and we understand what we can actually do versus what is a pipe dream.”

“These are projects that we’ve actually thought about for the past year,” Lee said. “Unlike many of the candidates, we actually have tried it and are trying it, and with more time and with more influence, I think we can deliver results.”

—Staff writer Alma T. Barak can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at almabk.54. Follow her on X @almabk_.

—Staff writer Theresa F. Bartelme can be reached at [email protected] and on Signal at theresabartelme.15. Follow her on X @theresabartelme.