Students picked for Commission

A student selection committee – formed by the Nominations and Elections Committee – chose students to work with the Commission on Strengthening the Community, ending controversy over the lack of student representation on the body. But the students were not chosen by the normal NEC procedures, causing some to question the reason for the change. NEC chairperson Sharon Dunn said the undergraduates were chosen by a committee made up of student representatives from the the Undergraduate Assembly, the United Minorities Council, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Association, the Panhellenic Council and the Interfraternity Council. NEC members typically make up the selection committees. Dunn said the NEC decided to change the usual committee selection process in order to "include more of the community." Michael Nadel, the student representative chosen for the communications subcommittee, said he thought the selection committee had a "pro-politically correct" bias, and that administrative pressure led to the change in the NEC student selection procedure. Nadel said he felt during the interview process that the selection committee members were "pushing their own agendas." "The [selection committee] was made political," Nadel said. "I really feel like these positions should be chosen like all others." Dunn said, however, that although the administration suggested that the NEC make this selection committee "more inclusive of the community," it did not put any pressure on the NEC to break away from the traditional selection process. "There was no pressure," Dunn said. "The selection process was left up to the [NEC]. It was our decision to include more of the community." She said members of the selection committee were explicitly told they were representing the campus, not their individual groups. UA member Ashley Magids will work with the faculty, student and staff relations subcommittee. She said she did not feel there was "political pressure" during the selection process, or that any one of the members was "pushing an agenda." "I felt the [selection] committee was very unbiased and professional," Magids said. "I don't feel a reason to say anything negative about their performance." While the student Commission representatives may disagree on the selection process, they all said they think the Commission should have more student involvement. College senior and South Asia Society Vice President Mita Sanghavi will actually sit on the Commission, filling the one undergraduate representative position. Sanghavi said she feels that one student cannot possibly represent everyone's viewpoints. "I think there should be more students actually on the Commission," she said. "The [students in the] working groups help balancing out, but there's such a variety of opinions. "As the only student on the Commission, I'm going to try to solicit student opinion, but I really shouldn't have to be the only one." Sanghavi echoed another concern that the student representatives seemed to share, when she said she hoped the Commission would not be another token committee, full of talk and not action. "I'm very hopeful but I am also wary," Sanghavi said. "I hope the Commission will be very pro-active. It's very easy to sit back and talk about issues without accomplishing anything." College junior Joanna Paul will focus on student life; College junior Beth Hirschfelder focus on judicial issues.