Student Government Questions

When hundreds of Harvard students stormed University Hall 20 years ago tomorrow, at least one activist faction favored the abolition of the Harvard Corporation.

Students, teaching fellows, even some faculty members rallied to the cause of restructuring the University's governance system to abolish the self-perpetuating, all-white, all-male Corporation.

The the reformers didn't succeed in their quest to "democratize" Harvard's highest governing body, but both the Corporation and student attitudes towards it have changed--at least a little.

The Corporation just this February appointed its first woman member, Washington lawyer Judith Richards Hope. And students, instead of calling for the board's abolition, are now seeking its cooperation.

Last week, Undergraduate Council Chair Kenneth E. Lee '89 announced that 10 student representatives would accept an invitation to meet with the Corporation later this month to discuss minority and women faculty hiring and divestment from companies doing business with South Africa.

For the first time, the Corporation will allow non-council members to attend their third annual get-together. This year, the agenda will also be determined by students.

The gathering, originally proposed by the Corporation as a substitute for an open meeting with students, has become a symbol of the new-found "consensus" politics that seem to dominate student activism.

Student representation has evolved into a form which the students of 1969 might have thought unimaginable. The seven-year-old Undergraduate Council is a highly institutionalized body that deals with the administration in an often corporate way.

But even as the Corporation meeting announcement tends to reaffirm the council's role as the official voice of the student body, the formation of a new representative organization last week raises questions about whether the Undergraduate Council is the best forum for student opinions.

Leaders of 27 undergraduate activities met last Wednesday to form the Harvard Union of Student Officers (HUSO), devoted to coordinating leadership and promoting action on issues like the creation of a student center.

So far, members of both HUSO and the council have been optimistic that the two organizations will complement--rather than conflict with--each other. Lee, who last week claimed that "everything is working in concert," will be the council representative to HUSO.

Council members say that they look forward to sharing resources with HUSO and using the new organization as a sounding board for its ideas. Likewise, HUSO leaders say they hope to use the council's connections with the administration to help further their "coordinated" goals.

The cooperation may be the partial result of the issues HUSO has picked for its focus. The HUSO motion calling for a student center endorsed a council resolution to the same effect, thereby underscoring the feeling of cooperation. As long as the council and HUSO agree, there is little basis for a political "turf war" between the two organizations.

Lee says that HUSO and the council serve very different, though related functions. "HUSO is primarily an organization for student leaders, not for student issues," he says.

"HUSO is simply a different manifestation of the same [council] people," Lee says. "We didn't found the organization to become a different student government, but to improve communication on issues."

But despite the good feelings between the two groups, their relationship has yet to be tested. Although representatives deny that there is the possibility for conflict, the council remains the only one of the two organizations which is recognized by the University. Therefore, it would still hold the upper hand in any potential conflicts.

Lee said that if HUSO and the council were to disagree on an issue, HUSO would be backing the wrong side of the issue. The council is the only body which truly represents student opinion, Lee claims. "HUSO doesn't have any representational meaning," he adds.