Little Voice for Elected Representatives

While the dean of students and his select committee have been planning the College's celebration of its 350th anniversary, the Undergraduate Council--the only legitimate student government--has had no role in the festivities' preparations.

The council, which is made up of representatives of all 13 houses and the freshman class, was not asked as a body by Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III to participate in the event's planning, says Brian C. Offutt '87, who served as council chairman last year.

"I wasn't approached," Offutt says. "I didn't know anything about it until this summer." At that time, he says, Epps asked him to help organize a seminar on the state of higher education followed by an invitation-only tea with Secretary of Education William J. Bennett.

Only six of the 88 council members have had any input in planning the week-long celebration slated for October 6 to 12.

Several council members expressed dissatisfaction with the council's lack of participation, saying that Epps should have involved the student government to gauge undergraduates' wants and needs. They also say the council should have participated in scheduling activities for the entire College community, not just invitation-only events for a select few.

"By bypassing the council, they've effectively bypassed the student body," says Richard Zayas '88, who served as council treasurer last year. "If they ignore us, they ignore the students."

"I wish we had been involved," Offutt adds. "We would have come up with an event suitable for 6400 undergraduates." An informal campus-wide dance in Tercentenary Theater would have been one viable option, he says.

Instead of engaging the full council's aid in the 350th preparations, Epps presented the idea for the College 350th to the Committee on College Life (CCL)--made up of five members of the Undergraduate Council and five faculty members--and consulted house committee chairmen. After the CCL approved the birthday party for undergraduates, Epps recruited a student committee to plan the events.

Amy B. Zegart '89, a member of CCL and chairman of the council's student services committee, also served on the 350th steering committee. She says she appealed to the council on more than one occasion, asking for individual help in planning the birthday party, but no member showed interest or came to her with ideas.

Some council members pointed to the summer vacation as an explanation for the student government's absence from the agenda-setting committee. The council does not meet during the long summer break, and it does not convene again until October 15--the week after the College 350th.

"The council is defunct for the whole summer," says Thomas D. Warren '88. "I assume that's why [Dean Epps] didn't go through it."

Warren and others say things would have been different had the council had a role in the 350th and more events would have been open to the undergraduate population at large. Several suggested lotteried events or academic symposia similar to those held during the University 350th held earlier this month.

"At the very least, the College should give all students the oportunity to attend some of these events," says Richard S. Eisert '88, chairman of the council's residential committee. "I'd be more happy with invitation-only events if people were chosen randomly."

"The University had the right to be exclusive, but I think the student celebration should have been approached from the perspective of being open to everyone," says Evan J. Mandery '89, chairman of the council's social committee, which last year planned such events as the Battle of the Bands, the Yale Tailgate Party, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Adams House Raft Race.

"Invitation-only events are fine for invitation-only alumni," Warren says. "There are remnants of traditional alumni events written all over it. It's like a grown-up affair for students."

But, Zegart notes, "Unfortunately, this is a world where we can't have everyone to everything every time."