Looking Ahead: What the Newly Elected HUA Co-Presidents Have in Store for Harvard Undergraduates

After a week of campaigning and outreach across Harvard’s campus, Zach Berg ’28 and Daniel Zhao ’28 were elected the Harvard Undergraduate Association Student Body co-presidents on April 18. They will serve during the upcoming 2026-2027 academic year. As they step into this role, Berg and Zhao have plans to increase funding to student clubs, improve the quality rather than the quantity of school-wide events, and find ways to make HUA events feel more relevant to all students. “The thing that we always want the spotlight to be on is the students,” Berg said in an interview with the “Harvard Independent.”

The HUA serves as Harvard College’s student government, tasked primarily with representing student interests and distributing funding to student organizations across campus. As co-presidents, Berg and Zhao will regularly meet with the Dean of Harvard College, the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and the Harvard President, Alan Garber, to advocate on behalf of undergraduates.

Berg and Zhao each bring a different background to the role. “I have never been involved in student government in any form before … So I think it did come a little bit out of left field,” Berg said. However, he does not intend to let this hinder the efficacy of his leadership. Given ongoing tensions between Harvard and the Trump administration, including the April 2025 freeze of $2.2 billion in federal grants, Berg explained that he wants to be a voice for the students. “Now is a uniquely important time for higher education. Academia across the world is under threat. Specifically in the United States, we’ve seen funding cuts. We’ve seen a large push that higher education is no longer as important as it once was,” Berg said. 

“It’s also deeply concerning to me that the way in which the University has oftentimes responded has been to protect the institution and not necessarily to protect the people who make the institution, who Daniel and I believe very strongly are the students … It’s why I decided to run,” he continued. “I want to be a voice for students at a time when it seems there are very few voices for undergraduate students across the country, and specifically at Harvard, which I think is the city on a hill when it comes to higher education.”

In contrast, Zhao entered the race with more direct HUA experience. As HUA treasurer last year, he noticed that student organizations often struggled to meet their needs due to limited funding. “Even if the HUA was to give all of its money to club organizations, we would still not be able to fund all the needs of clubs at the moment,” he explained. This became one of the central focuses of their campaign. 

Student organizations at Harvard primarily receive funding through HUA grants, which are drawn from the Student Activities Fee. SAF is a voluntary annual contribution from undergraduates, which many students opt out of. Beginning in the 2026-2027 academic year, however, Harvard College Danoff Dean, David Deming, has said that the fee will be increased and made mandatory, with exceptions for students on financial aid. Student organizations and clubs apply for funding each semester, but because the total budget is limited, not all requests are fully met.

“When I came to Harvard, I was anticipating all these clubs to be super well-funded, to have all these glorious experiences and whatnot. I know being part of these clubs that, generally speaking, there is this lack of capacity that is primarily created by a lack of capital,” Zhao continued.

To address this gap in funding, Berg and Zhao said they plan to increase outreach to alumni. “The people that we are asking to give money were ultimately once students here,” Berg said. “They understand the power of a Harvard experience.”

They also emphasized the importance of allocating funds to student organizations that have been under-supported by the HUA. From religious and affinity groups to student organizations in the arts, Berg and Zhao want to provide the resources necessary to allow these clubs to live up to their potential. “These are spaces that we think are very critical to the Harvard experience. They’re critical to making people feel safe on campus. They’re critical to making people feel fulfilled on campus,” Berg said.

Through their goal of increased funding, Zhao emphasized a clear goal. “I hope club leaders … especially in the fields that we think are traditionally underrepresented, can feel more supported by the HUA, [and] can feel like they’re able to meet the needs of the club members,” he said.

Beyond funding, Berg and Zhao said they want to rethink how the HUA approaches events throughout the year. According to Zhao, many events currently offered do not foster community or engagement in the way he would hope.

“We offer food to people. They just come, take the food and leave,” he said.

Instead of these kinds of events, Berg and Zhao plan to shift toward fewer, more intentional, and better-marketed events. “We want to have a higher quality, rather than a higher quantity of events,” Zhao said.

Their goal is to create experiences that bring students together in a more meaningful way. Zhao pointed to existing traditions such as Housing Day, River Run, and the Harvard-Yale game as examples of moments when the campus feels like a collective. “Our goal is really to bring Harvard together,” he said.

To build that sense of community, Berg and Zhao proposed more targeted events. “A gala during Jam Week for a capella groups is something that Daniel and I want to do,” Berg said, adding that involving students directly will be the key to increasing student engagement with the HUA. “We especially want the voices of those who are in a capella groups about how we can make this the best celebration that it can possibly be,” he continued.

“And hopefully that does increase buy-in, because people feel that they are not necessarily just attached like the HUA as an abstract name, they’re attached to the very specific, tangible things that we are doing.”

At the same time, with over 450 student organizations, Berg acknowledged the challenges of representing a student body as large and diverse as Harvard College’s. “Nothing we will do will represent 100% of students,” he said. “The goal of our campaign is not to serve those who voted for us or to serve the specific people who might agree with what we want, but to make sure that we are forwarding nuanced solutions that help everyone.”

As they prepare to take office, Berg has one hope for how their presidency will be remembered: “I want people to think that we listened, that we led with grace and humility, and did everything that we could to try to improve the student experience.”

Sonia Singh ’29 (soniasingh@college.harvard.edu) is a Copy Editor for the “Harvard Independent.”