Eric Lesser ’07, of Kirkland House, and Lauren Tulp ’07, of Eliot House, are this year’s David Aloian Memorial Scholars. They will be formally acknowledged at the fall dinner of the Harvard Alumni Association in October.
Established in 1988 in honor of David Aloian ’49, a former HAA executive director and master of Quincy House, the scholarships are awarded to two seniors who have made unique contributions to their Houses and to undergraduate life.
Lesser, of Longmeadow, Massachusetts, is a government concentrator and president of the Harvard College Democrats; he coordinated the committees that brought most of the 2004 Democratic presidential candidates to Kirkland House. As a junior, he also organized several forums on citizenship, politics, and current events. Known for his devotion to the House, Lesser one night wrote “Ode to Kirkland,” now a staple at House gatherings, which runs, in part: “Oh Kirkland! Oh Kirkland! Damn you are so fine. Oh Kirkland! Oh Kirkland! Thank god that you are mine.”
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| Eric Lesser and Lauren Tulp |
| Photograph by Stu Rosner |
As Eliot House cochair and social cochair, Tulp, of Acton, Massachusetts, has been a leading force in planning and running events, including the annual fundraiser Evening with Champions and the Fête (spring formal). She tries to nurture a friendly, community atmosphere, practicing what she preaches as a member of the Eliot Breakfast Club and of the intramural women’s crew team. She also volunteers outside the House: as a tutor for Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, and, during the Alternative Spring Break in 2005, as a worker rebuilding a church youth center in West Virginia.
