Social Planning Board Proposed

A week after Wyclef Jean did not appear in concert at Harvard, the Undergraduate Council (UC) took steps toward slashing its size by a third and setting up an independent body to coordinate social events.

Council leaders, who have hinted at the need for structural change to reduce the likelihood of future ill-planned events, introduced a constitutional amendment at the UC meeting last night.

The amendment, if passed by the council two weeks from now, would dissolve the Campus Life Committee (CLC)­­—one of the UC’s three standing committees—and replace it with an autonomous Social Events Committee (SEC) that would oversee campus-wide social programming. SEC members would be chosen by students in campus-wide elections, and UC members would not be eligible to serve.

“The SEC will establish a more concrete relationship with the Office of Student Activities,” said UC President Matthew J. Glazer ’06, who added that the SEC chair would sit on the College’s committee on undergraduate life and work closely with University Hall.

Glazer maintained that CLC reform had been on his radar screen for some time.

“This is something that has been the UC’s agenda for over a year now,” said Glazer.

Some council members have expressed concern that CLC members—who are full members of the council and may have preferred to be members of other committees—are too preoccupied with providing services like shuttles to the Game and do not devote enough time to plan campus-wide events.

“The SEC can take risks,” said UC Vice President Clay T. Capp ’06. “There is no freedom to be creative on CLC.”

As mandated by the UC’s constitution, the amendment will be debated at next week’s meeting before a final vote is held two weeks from now. If the amendment passes, CLC will be dissolved at the end of the fall term, and CLC members will be able to petition to join other UC committees.

The council also passed a resolution last night in support of increased wages for Harvard custodial workers.

The janitors’ union is currently in negotiations with the University. Its existing contract is set to expire tomorrow.

The UC resolved “that workers at Harvard deserve to be paid at a level commensurate with that of other universities in the area” and called “on the University to honor explicit promises it made to custodial workers in 2002.”

Some members expressed discomfort with the resolution, questioning whether workers’ rights properly came under the jurisdiction of a council focused on student issues.

“This is something that students should support on their own,” said Connor C. Wilson ’07. “I cannot say whether my constituents would necessarily support this.”

Capp maintained that the contract negotiations were fair game for UC debate.

“We interact with janitors all the time,” said Capp. “We should be doing all that we can to see that they are provided for.”

—Staff writer Alexander D. Blankfein can be reached at ablankf@fas.harvard.edu.