Sutton

gratitude for every hole-in-the-wall.

He rattles off the names of several professors and grade school teachers when asked to name just one who made a difference; he can’t pinpoint a single inspiring course but rather appreciates his amalgamation of credits in Indigenous studies, poetry, and religion. He tells me he’d want to have dinner with Assata Shakur — a freedomfighter whose biography he read after the College awarded him a free copy — or one of the many Black feminist writers and activists who’ve inspired his worldview.

Sutton is also thankful for all who came before him at Harvard. He has stepped into leadership roles out of goodwill and a desire to “pay it back for everything that other presidents have done for me,” he says, knowing the responsibility “wasn’t going to be a cake walk.” interested in leveraging that.”

As the vice president of the Running Club, he rallies about a dozen students for daily afternoon runs, a task that gets harder as the weather chills and assignments pile up. Nonetheless, he’s glad to have “cobbled together a community” of joggers that have been there for him since his first month at the College.

Grateful for the previous Lowell House Committee Stein Chair, who organized events that helped him find his bearing by the River — he had considered transferring to Cabot House before — Sutton also ran for a HoCo seat and became the next chair. Lowellians can thank him for Thursdays at the Museum of Stein Art, Stein Wars laser tag, Liechtenstein, and Fancy Stein.

Harvard has been a unique canvas for his activism. “You’ve got to be critical of the power that Harvard has as the most powerful university in the world,” Sutton says.

“From an activist, organizing perspective, I think it’s sort of a unique place to cut my teeth because it’s Harvard, you know? It’s an opportunity to really push the university to lead other universities to be a better community.”

Sutton appreciates everyone and everything, no matter how small. Though he’s spent the most money on chicken quesadillas at Jefe’s, he couldn’t settle on a favorite Harvard Square eatery, his indecision a product of a genuine

The driving force behind all these efforts, he says, was “having a real love for each other, because it felt like we were trying to make life better for no particular reason other than it was the right thing to do.”

If you’re still unsure why his peers designated him as their unsung hero, you can also thank him for good homemade memes. Sutton wouldn’t reveal his Sidechat score, but he says he’s unintentionally ascended the leaderboards there as well. Besides rallying the student body for hot breakfast for all, union workers’ rights, and afternoon runs, he’s united us in banter against vegan cheese and final clubs, too.