meet.the.leaders.

leader bios 2007



Katie Koh is a rising junior who hails from Andover, MA. She adores her on-campus residence also known as CABOT House. This summer, she is immersing herself in the world of organic chemistry at Harvard Summer School (and loving every minute of it). She is a psychology major and pre-med with a strong interest in health and nutrition. In her free time, Katie loves nothing more than spending time with her family and close friends. She is thrilled for another year in the FUP community and is waiting with great anticipation for FUP '07!!!

Tatiana Chaterji is currently buzzing with energy from the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta. She's spending her summer around campus working with Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment, INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence, and Boston Progress Arts Collective, with some thesis-ing and LSAT on the side. She's into political and feminist theater, Hindusthani and Carnatic music, ethnic studies, live poetry, popular education, and inspiration for social action. She misses her family, as usual, and cannot wait to meet the new FUPpies in September!

Jess Frisina is a sophomore in Mather House and is unclear about what she will be concentrating in. This summer she is spending her time as a paralegal in a corporate law firm. She plans on saving the world next summer. Her favorite things in life are soccer, icecream, and the Mission Hill After School Program, but her guilty pleasures include all Olsen twin movies and free food. Strangely enough she lives in an NYU dorm with her parents when she is home from college and she trusts that you FUPpies will be cooler than the freshmen swarming around her house right now. FUP love.

Joe Stujenske is a rising sophomore and neurobiology concentrator, but he is a liberal arts guy at heart. He is spending his summer breaking down racial stereotypes as a Polish scientist at Harvard Medical School, but he also plans to get involved with Habitat for Humanity and make it to the beach a few times. Good news for his WTC group, he likes exploring (also known as getting lost) and seeing new things. During vacations, Joe returns home to New York, though you'd never know from his accent (unless of course you force him to say "fab cab"), and during the semester, he will be a peer advising fellow for some impressionable freshmen and a mentor for a high school junior in Roxbury. He is very excited for FUP, especially discussion groups and the intense game of capture the flag!

Jieun Baek is a rising Junior in Pfoho (the bell tower!!), studying government and doing a secondary in history of art and architecture. A native from sunny happy Los Angeles, she's a huge fan of grilled chicken salads with fruit vinaigrettes, grapefruit, pineapples, COFFEE, pedicures, marathon conversations, cocktails, biographies, passionate people, dates, wild flower bouquets, and stories. She's an advocate for human rights (especially about the violations in North Korea), bettering race relations and women empowerment, and would love to learn more about these issues from all of you! She's been slowly picking up the drums, jazz, bossa novait's comin! And although single, she's already building her guess list; Oprah and Dr. Condi Rice rsvp-ed already!

Ana Huang is a second-semester Junior living in the Dudley co-op, majoring in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (and yes, she did say MAJOR, because she likes to believe that she's still in touch with the rest of the world beyond Harvard). Ana in China again this summer, visiting family, eating lots and lots of lamb kebabs and hot pot, hanging out with older friends who think her name is "kid", and doing a little research on the side on Chinese lesbian communities. She goes through a lot of phases, including orange-color phases, Christian phases, cynical phases and in-between phases. Right now she is dreaming about a queer family of friends.

Matt Kessler
I am from beautiful Columbus, Ohio where I'm staying for the summer, working for a basement company (waterproofing, construction, fun stuff) and hanging out with the greatest mom in the world (mine!). That is everything that's going on in my life right now, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. When in Boston, I work at Fair Foods (one of the FUP worksites), which is an amazing place. Currier House, Government, '09. :)

Jessica Ranucci is a rising sophomore and probable social studies concentrator living in Leverett House. She misses summer shenanigans in her home state of Indiana but is enjoying working for the Summer Urban Program as a junior counselor coordinator. She spends her days at SUP helping high-school aged assistant counselors develop leadership and classroom management skills, preparing meals, driving a huge van while listening to the umberlla-ella-ella song over and over, and planning a carnival. Jessica is interested in all sorts of social justice-y issues, especially those relating to labor, class, housing, and education.

Ellie Nowak loves people, and is spending her summer googling her friends during the time in which she should be doing breast cancer research at her place of employment. She is an African Studies concentrator, a sophomore in Pfoho, and is in love with HUDS fried plantains. You will be too, very soon. Ellie enjoys fighting modern-day slavery, and has also started a non-profit that combines photography and fundraising for healthcare development in Africa. In her spare time, she enjoys recreating the dance scenes in her favorite movie, Happy Feet.

Jose Olivarez likes to listen to Jose Olivarez on his Ipod, and he's anxiously awaiting for Jose's album, Assholes in Real Life, to leak. When he is not rapping or speaking the word, this African and African American Studies concentrator is busy reppin the Go (we ain't Chi no more!!!), waiting for Dave Chappelle to make a comeback, and generally buggin out. This summer Jose will be busy reminding folks that there's an accent on the "e" of his name and teaching 12 and 13 year olds the lyrics to Jose's debut album. He will probably teach them math too. But not science, because science makes his head hurt. If you're into throttling capitalism while figuring out how to come away with some nice kicks, poetry, hip hop, or the community, you should talk to Jose.

Jenny Fauci is estactic to begin her senior year with her first official dose of FUP love. At school you might find her dancing, tutoring, protesting, selling flowers with a bunch of old disgruntled men at the local florist, or just roaming the Square and doing her thing, you know, like Jenny from the Block. She enjoys long meals with great friends (especially if avocados or my mom's pasta are involved), the beaming hot sun, unexpected conversations, samba in the street, and people who believe in change. This summer you can find her remembering what its like to be 5th grader while she teaches Social Studies at Summerbridge in San Francisco. While she has been loving the crazy new adventures in hip SF with her cool new shades, her heart belongs in D.C. where she grew up. And we're talkin the real D.C. Remembering what it is like to be 10 is not hard because Jenny still cannot sit in her seat for more than 5 minutes....but that's just because she is so excited for the marathon of FUP lovemaniamadness to commence!

Nworah Ayogu. Ok stop. If you pronounced my name right when you read this then you're automatically my new best friend. Sophomore....Currier House....Neurobiology Concentrator... Nigerian....Columbus, Ohio. I love the Buckeyes and hate gatorade. I'm spending my summer helping set up a Center for Health Disparities here in Columbus and doing Cancer research (science all day everyday). All that is mad fun and mad cool, but my real passion is Disney movies and filming operas. So if you're a fan of Verdi or want to discuss the themes of responsibility, race, gender, or friendship in the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan ect. or feel the need to sing.....find me. I'm also an expert on Muppet Babies and Captain Planet and I've found a solution to one of the most pressing questions of the past century......yes I've discovered how many licks it takes to get to the tootsie roll center of a tootsie pop.

Angelico Razon (or "Angel or Iko") is a biochem concentrator living in Kirkland House (yes, science people still have time for social justice). This native Southern Californian has been confused for a variety of ethnic backgrounds since he's been in Boston - Dominican, Japanese, Haitian, etc. As the ethnically ambiguous president of the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), he'll be working for the campus umbrella public service organization with assembling 800 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fixing the PBHA copy machine, driving to Costco to beg for in-kind donations, and chaperoning/chasing youth around the New England Aquarium. If you ever want to talk about campus public service or advocacy programs, visiting Chinatown, debating Asian American issues, being a socially conscious pre-med, craving Filipino food (hint hint), or still can't figure out his ethnicity, just randomly call him up!

Nadia is.
In part, she is a History and Literature concentrator, focusing on postcolonial and women's studies.
In part, she is a pre-med, focusing on Chemistry, which is why she is currently studying for an organic chemistry test instead of sitting on the beaches of Egypt with her family.
Right now, she is eating a grapefruit and making her keyboard sticky.
She is involved with the Harvard Society of Arab Students, the Harvard Progressive Advocacy Group, the Harvard Foundation, and the Harvard Center for College Kids Who Can't Read Good and Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too.
She is a proud Kirklander, class of 2009.
She is a cyborg.
She is convinced her little brother is the most hilarious 9-year old on the planet, and is waiting to write a novel about his mystical antics.
She is sometimes funny.
And sometimes, even to others.


Yuxuan Zhuang, also called Conrad because his legal name has vowels and consonants just where they should not belong, is a rising junior and economics concentrator in Leverett House. Hailing from Brockton, Massachusetts, home of Rocky Marciano and Marvin Hagler, he enjoys spending time with his younger sister, eating cheesecake, and figuring out how to work a remote. In addition to living in Lamont Library during the academic year, Conrad works with children part of the Mission Hill After School Program. He also pretends to be the Off-Campus Outreach Officer for the Phillips Brooks House Association for the tax-benefits. For the summer, when he is not assisting in research on the economic impact of sexual harassment law and praying to get a tan from the light of the computer monitor, he is teaching English and U.S. History as part of the Chinatown ESL/Citizenship program.

Andrew Fine is a junior in Eliot House, a former Fuppie and first time FUP leader, who grew up in Weston, Massachusetts, but is enjoying New York City this summer much more than that tiny suburb. During the school year, he spends much too time working on the newspaper and idling on Gmail. He is a Social Studies concentrator, loves the New York Times, listens to Wilco religiously, and wants to eat a meal cooked by a rat after seeing Ratatouille. He is also addicted to ice cream, and will gladly introduce Fuppies to Cambridge's many ice cream joints (Christina's is his favorite).

Zach Arnold, sophomore, is from the beautiful town of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. At Harvard he concentrates in Social Studies and spends his spare time wandering around Boston and Cambridge, searching for good food. Zach enjoys gardening, classical music, cooking and other old woman pursuits. He is spending this summer learning strangely accented Spanish in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Zach thinks FUP is pretty spectacular and is looking forward to introducing all the FUPpies to Christina's.

Katie Loncke is a senior in Social Studies and Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, and is spending her summer studying white people in teh internets. (She recently learned what " teh" means, and is inordinately excited about it.) Born and raised in suburban Sacramento, California, wintry schooling on the East Coast has deepened her appreciation for sweat, horizons, and encounters with friendly strangers in farmer's markets, gas stations, and funky little subterranean bookstores. She spends too much time blogging and reading political blogs. Ask her questions, and you'll probably get questions in return. She's not trying to be obnoxious; she's just curious!

noa is a senior from seattle, washington. she studies women, gender and sexuality. she was born in israel, identifies as queer, has a nineteen year old brother who she is obsessed with, and likes to cook. she loves the mediteranean sea, neon colors, and local produce. she also would love to chill with you.

Jill Stockwell is a rising senior in Eliot House concentrating in the Comparative Study of Religion; Islam and Modern West. She's in Europe for most of the summer researching new Islamic diaspora communities and women's shelters, back in the States for the rest of it at My Sisters Place in Hartford, CT. She loves FUP & FUPeople, feminism, fire works, and faux pas. This bio brought to you by beautiful Ashley and the letter F.

Christian Starling, from DETROIT, MI, is a rising sophomore concentrating in nothing in particular, but can be most often caught thinking about Anthro and Art (or VES, for the more acronym-inclined). Christian and most of his closest friends can either be found SUPing, FUPing, Mission Hill-ing, or photographing. He is often thought of as Chimaobi's protege, but would like to someday become his own man, and move out from under the big, loving Nigerian's shadow. He also doesn't like addressing himself in the third person more than once per year, so I guess I'll go with the trusty first-person for the rest of this bio. I like Folk tunes, Alt.Hip.Hop, Stevie Wonder, and have recently rediscovered my affinity for Easy-Mac and Goobers. I am also often one of the few people wearing a vest on campus, so if you ever see anyone with a green vest that looks like it's about two decades too late to be cool, it's probably me.

alyssa aguilera is a 21 year old from san antonio texas. she is studying government and is a resident of cabot house. her favorite activities at harvard include (but are not limited to) the student labor action movement, students for a democratic society, and the harvard disorientation guide. this summer she is living and working in buenos aires. she enjoys such things as: kindergarten cop, weezy f. baby, chican@s, zapatistas, and gchat. nworah ayogu is her favorite fup leader.

Mary Catherine Curley studies the United States (its literature, its history...YA KNOW) and will be a sophomore who spends her days working at Cafe Gato Rojo, tutoring kiddos, dancing, going to every coffeeshop in Cambridge/Boston, and writing. Her idols include Rocky Balboa, Howard Dean (ask her to do her impression of the Dean Scream! Oh please!) and whoever the guy is that sings that most beautiful of rural love songs, "I'd Like to Check You For Ticks." She spent this summer being a Guilford girl (i.e., skinny-dipping, dirt-road-jogging, coffeeshop-working, and helping Dad do weird things like install a heavy bag in the barn & run a cremation business), doing very important things in Montevideo, Uruguay, and scribbling for a very long time and calling this "writing."

I, Jeremiah Hendren, am an aspiring young Yogin interested, at the moment, in healthy food, Cuban salsa, my family and lovely girlfriend, reading fiction and meditating. I love learning languages and am currently working most on Arabic. I'm a country boy lost in the big city, constantly yearning for my Humboldt redwoods and Shenandoah valley. I like to play the reeds and the banjo. After several hours of lumber chopping in the mornings, I enjoy taking my dog, Old Yeller, for a walk in the woods. My story has been told in the international bestseller, "Where the Red Fern Grows." My favorite time of year is most definitely FUP. Also, coon-huntin' season.

Sarah Howard just can't get enough FUP. She's a senior who lives in the Dudley Co-op, concentrates in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality AND African-American Studies, and is currently spending the summer at home in central New Jersey, where she divides her waking hours among tying unwieldy tomatoe plants, weeding the radicchio bed, playing with Magna Tiles, and finding reasons not to read for her thesis. On, and she also likes swimming, dancing, baking, queer hiphop, bunnies, and eating hummus.

adaner usmani, first and foremost, condemns the use of capital letters because he believes that such antics help engender the aura of invincibility that envelops the capitalist world-system. partly because he holds a pakistani passport yet has spent the last seven years in frigid new england, he refuses to pledge his allegiance to any entities other than those movements that organize in the name of global revolution. as a senior social studies concentrator who wishes to be a better teammate to his comrades on the dunster intramural soccer team, he is forced to reflect on his own life's contradictions all-too-frequently. even still, he looks forward to a year filled by fup, fanon, and fernando torres. and thankfully, his recent discovery of the work of jacques ranciere has made him more regularly jolly (he believes it is imperative that you type that name into google immediately). please do email him (ausmani@fas) with questions, concerns, and/or blueprints for societal upheaval.

"Steve Lin is a rising senior in Kirkland House and hails from Glastonbury, Connecticut. He will be in Boston for most of the summer doing part - time research and working on music. He finished recording a 4-song "EP" - whatever that means - with his band - The Dharma Seals - a few weeks ago - the CD will hopefully be finished by the end of this summer. Steve does not know why that last sentence had so many hyphens! Steve has also spent time in the past working with The BIG Question - a weekly forum/gathering/discussion event taking on issues regarding Harvard, society, and social justice. Steve is also a media studies fanatic and intends spend the rest of his life reading about, learning, and discussing media and its negative impacts on society. What? He also really enjoys watching, playing, and discussing basketball."
By Steve Lin

Bolaji "Grace" Ogunsola from Baltimore, MD but currently residing in Harford county. Concentrating right now really hard in being undecided, I may be Af-Am/Sociology but I might change my mind-I Thank God for freedom to change my mind! Spending the summer as a senior counselor for the Summer Urban Program-Mission Hill.

This summer, FUP leader Ugochi ("goat cheese") Nwosu is working with parasites. No she is not working with other Harvard undergrads (though relationships with them are just as opportunitistic if not more so) she spends her time with the kind that cause malaria. She assures the reader that the latter are much more fun to play with and she feels herself growing more and more affectionate towards the little vermin. She finds their smiles "infectious" and has picked up various interesting facts about malaria like... one of every two people that have ever lived since the stone age has died of malaria. When a female anopheles mosquito feeds, she takes in three times her weight which is equivalent to a human drinking a bathtub sized portion of milkshake at one meal. Other than pretending to be interested in facts about malaria and pretending to laugh at myriad DNA jokes, you can also sieze Ugochi's heart by cooking for her or pretending to like her food.

Lori Adelman is a senior social studies concentrator in Dunster House. She's from New Jersey and proud of it. At Harvard she is involved in student government, the Black community, and mentoring. She is spending her summer in Santiago de Chile discovering the joys of reggaeton, riding the micro bus A LOT, explaining the ins and outs of her afro puff to the masses, and trying to find out how student-led social movements can impact the world. If you wanna know more, she encourages you to "ASK ABOUT ME"

This summer, Lucerito Ortiz has been a slave to the basement of PBH as she eats chocolate cake and reconsiders her recent marriage to Keylatch and subsequently the SUP community....who are we kidding? She LOVES it...despite the all-nighters and random carbon dioxide balls thrown at her face, Lucerito is amazed at what a strong group of college and high school students can do to educate and enrich the minds of children in Boston. Lucerito is a hardcore so-cal-ian and all about the Lakers...don't hate, you know you're jealous. She also loves spoken word and perforrming at open mics and such with her fellow oreo-nut Jose(accent on the "e"). She holds a mini-obession with her hot roommate "vizzle izzle," who bribes her with bags of corn nuts in exchange for "favors." Lucerito is very much looking forward to working with the Latino community next year, as she is one of the new coordinators for the Latino division of the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program. Lucerito would like to send out much FUP love to the FUP community, past and present, and is extremely excited about indoctrinating a new class into the mind-blowing amazing-ness that is FUP.

Rapped to the tune "Its Bigger than Hip Hop" by Dead Prez from the Album "Lets get Free"
One thing bout Marcus when you meet you feel the pain/ Cuz he brings that math to your brain/ take it slow like a glass of champagne/ and be ready for that/ problems he's ready to crack/ matta fact, whose got a pad/ and paper and a pen/ damnit he's at the math again/ Back to M there is just something that this man wants you to know/ about how his summer goes/ and the math research he chose/ While at Harvard (vard)/ He studies pure mathematics/ But enjoys ec and physics which both employ statics/ Yes at Harvard/ He also does music all the time/ He plays the saxophone but he rarely kicks a rhyme/ If you're a fuppie, ducky, you're so lucky, jump up like a monkey, and just be thrilled that you're going off to college/ But then if you are yucky, sucky, look like chucky, disrespect your mummy, you're a dummy grab a book and get some Knowledge...
Its bigger than Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop, Hip Its bigger than Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop, Hip-Hop, Hip- Hop

Ashley Pletz wants to upgrade u. She can up, can she up, let her upgrade u. Additionally, Ashley is a rising senior and sociology concentrator in Quincy House, and working this summer on new innuendo-laden phrases that involve the word FUP (like the more benign, "FUP the MAN"). That is her official job as a member of the FUP steering committee; also, making fun of Jeremiah Hendren. Ashley is a fan of ironic clothing and accessories, such as the ironically worn bowtie and fanny-pack (Have you ever heard of an ironically worn pair of Depends). Food too, such as a garden salad ordered ironically for dinner in a restaurant in which one should, in earnest, be ordering the tuna tartar. When not entertaining herself with ironic musings, Ashley eats steak and potatoes. It is the Midwestern way.

Kiah is a high-end jewelry company based in Mumbai specializing in diamonds, with styles that cater especially to Indian women. Kia is a South Korean motor company with the "highest ranked sub-compact car in initial quality" (two years in a row!) by JD Power and Associates. Kiah Alexander was Kia but now is not. We'd ask her why, but she's incommunicado in Ghana. Fear not, however, because she has a very vibrant and regularly-updated Facebook profile which you can peruse for yourself.

Hey FUPpies and everyone! With the rest of the high-quality crew of 2007 Leaders, Paul Nauert welcomes you all into the community of eternal FUP Luv. Make yourselves at home. It is a great, delicious, warm place--like a loft, only not bougie. We also have lots of peanut butter.
On a personal note, Paul is a Social Studies concentrator, will be a junior, lives in Dunster House. Besides all this, Paul is involved in homelessness issues in Boston, the Big Question, and the state of Missouri. There is more to Paul than this. At least, he believes. Talk with him and possibly find out. He likes good convos, listening, and all that jazz. Cheers.

Jamison Hill is a rising sophomore living in Leverett House next year, currently planning to concentrate in History and Literature. While his interests primarily include writing, recycling and tire rotation, he dabbles in non-linear dynamical systems and enjoys rapping about a certain favorite color of his. Considered by most to be the foremost\ leading expert on Disney villains and their sidekicks, Jamison's secret penchant for all things designed for the ten and under crowd has also given him extraordinary skill with tangrams. On most days at Harvard he can be found watching an episode of Scrubs while sipping on a box of HiC fruit punch. He spent this past summer working with eleven crazy, amazing kids from Dorchester and is looking forward to meeting more crazy, amazing FUPpies!

Eleanor Wilking is perpetually cold, but still enjoying Perz immensely. Hailing originally from the frigid and treeless village of Fargo, North Dakota, Eleanor is no stranger to the bottom ranges of the thermometer, but is finding the rapid temperature changes in the Andes to be a whole new ballgame. She is working for the Suramirica Centre Regional Oxfam in Lima, specifically for their "Make Trade Fair" campaigns in Bolivia and Colombia that work with rural agricultural communities to improve access to global markets. Eleanor is a rising junior in Pforzheimer House and is currently concentrating in Social Studies and Economics. During the term, she directs at the Harvard Square Homeless Shelter (UNILU!) and hangs out with small but energetic students from non-English speaking families in BRYE. She also enjoys running, recycling, reading newspapers, and is a proud member of the Harvard Boxing Club (in which she is called "The Viking"). Eleanor does FUP for the free t-shirt and to encourage her Fuppies to imbibe more fair trade coffee (or better yet, orange juice)! :)