Noah Harris Becomes Harvard's First Black Student Body President

Harvard University student Noah Harris, 20, recently made history as the first Black student elected as president of the Undergraduate Council in the school's 384-year history.

A native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, ran with his running mate Jenny Gan. Two Black students have headed Harvard’s Undergraduate Council in the past but Harris is the first Balck man to be elected by the student body.

"We were so grateful and soon after that, realizing that we had made history made that moment even more profound as well," Harris said. "It wasn't something that we went around telling people, 'Hey if you vote for us, you'll be electing me first Black man student body president.'"

He continued, "But making history was special, especially in this year of all these racial injustices and police brutality and people being taken from our communities way too soon. For the Harvard student body to elect its first Black man in that way was just so special and something that I'm honored to be apart of."

Harris' campaign ran virtually due to the pandemic, using social media and texting to canvass.

He told CBS Boston, "It is something that we’ve never been through as a college, we’ve certainly never been through this as students,” said Harris. “It’s been such a hard year and this is such an unprecedented time for everyone at Harvard. We’ve never had a virtual election.”