UA's role at Ivy Council uncertain

For a year now, student government leaders have been unsure of Penn's future role in Ivy Council, a consortium of student leaders from around the Ivy League.

The disagreement resurfaced in a debate at last Sunday's Undergraduate Assembly meeting about whether to fund the Penn delegation's travel to the upcoming conference, which will be held tomorrow at Columbia University.

In the past, the Penn delegation consisted of four representatives, all of whom were elected from the UA. But after last year's conference, the only elected delegate from the UA is a policy liaison - all other delegates can be non-UA members.

The change occurred because Ivy Council has been restructured several times, reducing the importance of student government and expanding the conference to include more general student groups.

When it was originally created in 1993, it was meant to be a forum for student government leaders to discuss common problems at their schools.

"We seek to be an active resource for students, student groups and student government in their needs," Ivy Council President and College senior Bing Chen said.

He added that the body's changes are "all for the better."

The UA, however, has been apprehensive of the changes and removed funding for Ivy Council from their budget for this year.

"My only criticism would be that because the Ivy Council just finished establishing the new state of their organization we haven't seen it tested," UA secretary and College junior Claire Choi said of the budget cut.

Wharton and College senior and UA chairman Wilson Tong said the changes to the body have made its value for Penn student government unclear.

There is already a "struggle for [student government] to be recognized on this campus and I think for students to recognize Ivy Council as another type of governing organization is even more difficult," he said.

But Ivy Council Head Delegate, UA member and College sophomore Adam Bloch said Ivy Council can still benefit schools in many ways. He attributed recent UA projects - like making take-out dining more widely available and implementing Ruckus, the free music service - to discussions held at Ivy Council.

"If we take the good things from each school and bring it back to our school, everybody will get better," he said.

For example, tomorrow's conference will focus on five issues: alcohol abuse policies in light of the national debate on the drinking age; environmental sustainability; intellectual-property rights; administrative transparency and accountability; and school spirit.

Tong also voiced concern that while many of those representing Penn at this weekend's conference are UA members, they are not officially acting as representatives of the body.

"I want to make sure that representatives elected to the UA are fulfilling their duties and responsibilities as UA members first," he said.

He was also critical of the members of the delegation representing the UA at tomorrow's conference since none of them had contacted him about issues on the agenda that might pertain to the UA.

The UA is waiting to see the result of the conference since, as Choi said, "We're trusting the organization's representatives when they say it'll have a lot of value for Penn."

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