Eneji, Demuren Campaign on Expanding Student Spaces, Restructuring HUA Outreach

Joshua T. Eneji ’28 and Gabrielle L. Demuren ’28 are running for Harvard Undergraduate Association co-presidents on a platform centered on “building an intentional community” — a goal they said will require expanding student spaces, restructuring outreach, and increasing accountability within the HUA.

For Eneji, a current HUA officer, and Demuren, who has not previously served in the organization, that vision is organized in four pillars: leadership, advocacy, community, and service.

Eneji said his and Demuren’s campaign seeks to pair institutional experience with an outsider’s critique.

“I believe that what makes the strongest ticket is that fresh perspective and experience of structure,” Eneji said.

Eneji, who leads the HUA’s wellbeing committee, has experience launching initiatives like midterm and finals care packages. Demuren, who has worked across affinity organizations, said her perspective comes from engaging with the HUA as a student rather than an insider.

“I would really just be advocating for some of those communities, for all the students who don’t feel like their values are reflected within the HUA,” she said.

At the center of their platform is a push to expand “third spaces” — informal gathering areas outside of academic and extracurricular structures — which they said have become increasingly important as traditional affinity spaces, like the Women’s Center and the QuOffice, have been scaled back.

Demuren pointed to locations like Barker Cafe as potential sites for programming designed to bring together students across organizations and disciplines.

“A lot of the times people actually operate in silos,” she said. “We’re trying to extend that further and build cross-disciplinary connections and build community from the ground up”

The pair also proposed shifting how the HUA engages with students, moving away from large-scale town halls that have historically drawn no more than a handful of students toward smaller, targeted outreach. Their plan includes sending HUA representatives to student organization meetings and hosting more localized conversations.

“Instead of having these town halls, with these opportunities for students to come, we want to work around their schedule and make sure that we’re actually going to them actively,” Demuren said.

To formalize that approach, Eneji and Demuren said they would convene a roundtable with student organizations, bringing together representatives from cultural, pre-professional, and advocacy groups to advise the HUA.

They also called for internal changes, including clearer expectations for elected HUA officers.

“I will say one thing we could improve on is more accountability structure for officers” Eneji said, “I’d want us to really prompt officers, to push us to our best and make events that actually create change.”

On funding, Eneji pointed to his experience administering grants through the wellbeing committee, where some organizations struggled to access funds in time to hold events. The pair said they would prioritize faster, more transparent disbursement processes and reevaluate funding criteria to better support student groups.

“There were so many clubs that applied and were like, ‘we can’t use this reimbursement system because we don’t have the money from the finance team to even get the events off the ground,’” Eneji said.

On their relationship with the Harvard administration, the pair framed their approach as collaborative but student-focused.

“One thing we really want to do is emphasize not being anti-administration, but really pro-student,” Eneji said.

At the same time, they said they would clear positions on issues affecting students, including support for international students amid ongoing pressure from the Trump administration.

“International students — they’re included in that we,” Demuren said, referencing the ticket’s slogan of “rooted we rise.” “In times like this, where it may feel like they don’t have a place here, this is the time for us to really stand up and to support them.”

Eneji and Demuren said their campaign ultimately centers on expanding participation in student governance and ensuring students feel heard and valued.

“We want to ensure that every student feels like they are a part of the next step for HUA,” Demuren said. “And as we grow, we grow together.”

—Staff writer Celine Muir can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at celinem.33. Follow her on X @celinemuir1.