UA aims to fight 'self-segregation'

Last night, the Undergraduate Assembly met for the first time this semester to begin pursuing a new set of goals for the upcoming academic year.

One of the biggest challenges the UA hopes to address this year is to help eliminate self-segregation on Penn's campus while also becoming more accountable to its constituents.

One part of the group's plan is to make better use of its steering committee, which meets every week and is composed of the chairs of other branches of student government, Greek organizations and minority coalitions.

"In the past, UA steering meetings have been a forum at which different groups announce their calendar of events," College senior and UA Chairman Jason Levy said. "This year, we're hoping to increase the amount of interaction with and between these groups, so they can really contribute to the UA and hold us accountable to the larger student body.

"More importantly, we're hoping that this will help break down the self-segregation that exists at Penn," Levy added.

The UA also announced the chairs and members of its committees at last night's meeting.

The Internal/External Committee will be led by College junior Lauren Dooley and College sophomore Rachel Fersh. College student Zack Rosenblum and Wharton sophomore Sean Walker will lead the Student Life Committee. College sophomore Amy Gartenlaub will lead the Facilities Committee and Wharton sophomore Cynthia Wong will lead the Education Committee -- a committee that has been revived after five years.

"Because [Student Committee on Undergraduate Education] members cannot serve on the UA and vice versa," Lattman said, "reinstating this committee will allow the concerns of the student body to be addressed by SCUE and the UA in a way that they couldn't be before."

The UA also elected two members -- Wong and Walker -- to its budget committee and four members -- Dooley, Engineering junior and InterFraternity Council Vice President Conor O'Callaghan, College senior Marika Maris and College sophomore Pooja Lakshmin -- to serve as delegates for the Ivy Council, a network of Ivy League schools' student governments.

The UA is looking to expand programming to freshmen during New Student Orientation and earlier -- this fall, they implemented a leadership proseminar for freshmen.

By increasing the amount of activity during their first weeks at Penn, "we're hoping to give freshmen a better opportunity to foster relationships with people of different backgrounds," Levy said.

UA Vice Chairman and Engineering and Wharton senior Matt Lattman agreed with Levy.

"Preorientation programs are very successful at introducing people to life at Penn," he said. Through such activities, "freshmen can meet people from outside their [dormitory] halls early on."

Furthermore, the UA has adopted a new outlook for resignations this year. After having five members resign during the middle of their terms last year, UA members now are being encouraged to resign early, rather than later on.

"It wasn't fair that some of the new members had little time to acclimate to the UA last year," Levy said, "so I've asked that anyone whose heart isn't in the UA leave now so they can give someone else, who might have more to contribute, a chance."

Already, College senior Kirsten Grubbs has resigned for "personal reasons," she said. She has been replaced by College sophomore Andrew Roach.

"After having put so much into the UA for three years and not being elected to a leadership position," Grubbs said, "I didn't think I would have been as beneficial to the body as a younger member."

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