Council, Heal Thyself: The Need for U.C. Reform

Harvard's student government needs to respond to calls for change

As citizens around he country express their disgust at government, it has become increasingly clear that government cannot and will not reform itself without outside pressure.

This dynamic of disgruntlement should be familiar to Harvard students. In a climate where the phrase "the U.S. sucks" has become commonplace, students clearly believe that the Undergraduate Council should be overhauled.

An organization, the Constitutional Convention committee, formed just this fall to push some long-needed changes through the U.C. The group is composed of student leaders who recognize that the U.C. cannot reform itself without external pressure. The organization has worked closely with Dean Epps and hopes to poll students this spring with a list of potential U.C. reforms.

The possible changes include: making the presidential election a campus-wide student referendum, limiting the number of representatives from each House, increasing U.C. terms to a full year, forcing U.C. representatives to serve on their respective House committees, opening the financial books to the public and ensuring administrative approval of large financial expenditures.

U.S. President Carey Gabay has said that he hopes the group will work with the U.C.'s own revaluation committee and not against the student government. Gabay is concerned that the poll might present certain "populist reforms" which are not in the best interests of the students.

With due respect to Gabay, the U.C. is supposed to be a democracy. If students demand certain reforms, then it should be the responsibility of the government to carry out those reforms. If the reforms which students want are clearly counter-productive, then it is the responsibility of representatives to explain to their constituents why they are wrong. In the end, the students should decide what happens to their government--not those who are most comfortable with the current system.

Of course, whether or not the U.C. reform becomes a serious campus issue depends mostly on student interest. The poll will not necessarily be accepted willingly by the U.C. In fact, the U.C. has no obligation to heed student opinion at all--especially if students fail to express dissatisfaction over the issue to their representatives. If ignored, the Constitutional Convention committee can appeal to the administration for support in pushing through reforms, but the process need not go that far.

The Undergraduate Council, as a student-run democratic legislature, has the duty to act on student opinion. When the poll arrives in the spring, I hope students will take the opportunity to let their government know that they want changed. More crucially, however, I hope U.C. members will appreciate their role as student representatives and carry out those changes.

Brad Edward White is Associate Editorial Chair of The Crimson.