Three new student representatives will be given the chance to bring their voices to the table at University Council meetings.
College junior Earl Lee, representing the Performing Arts Council, Wharton junior Alison Ng, representing the Panhellenic Council, and College junior Eugena Oh, representing the Asian Pacific Students Coalition, will join University President Judith Rodin, Provost Robert Barchi and the 87 other members in U. Council this coming fall.
Last year, the three seats went to the InterFraternity Council, UMOJA and the Latino Coalition. The IFC and Latino Coalition applied again for this year's spots but lost out to the other groups.
Nominations and Elections Committee Chairwoman Anne Hankey said the new student groups were chosen carefully according to the impact which the NEC felt they would make at this year's council meetings.
"The UC seat is a really important thing to get, and our concern was that if the group didn't use the seat last year, meaning that they didn't bring an agenda item up and they weren't actively part of the discussion, then that was held against them," Hankey said. "The Latino Coalition haven't really brought any issues to the UC, nor have they had a central role in discussion on agenda items."
Council members represent both administrative officers and elected representatives of the faculty, students and staff in the monthly meetings. Fifteen of the 87 seats are allocated to the Undergraduate Assembly to represent all undergraduate students at Penn. However, the UA voted last year to change how some of those seats are assigned, allowing for these three new representatives.
"The UA has 15 seats, but rather than filling those seats with members solely from our organization, three of our seats were allocated to student groups determined by the Nomination and Elections Committee and one to the chair of the [NEC]," UA Chairwoman Dana Hork said.
Hork said the purpose of this realignment of power is to "bring students to the table who represent a diverse or multitude of student interests."
The positions are meant to facilitate the better representation of not only minority students but of some other student groups, such as Greek organizations, as well.
Now, the diverse perspective of these representatives will come into play in the council, one of the most influential policy-making organizations on campus. In the past, the council has dealt with issues concerning electronic privacy, minority relations and educational reform.
Oh said that while she is happy about her group's spot on the council, she was taken aback by the two other choices.
"We're just really happy that we were able to receive a seat this year, especially because we did not get a seat last year," Oh said. "I'm really surprised -- PAC and Panhel? I was just expecting to see the Latino Coalition back again."
While APSC members may have been surprised about the NEC's decision, Panhel leaders were not.
Ng said she feels Panhel has a number of important issues to bring to the table and will represent a large number of students.
"Besides the fact that we're a Greek organization, we're a women's organization," Ng said. "We represent nearly 1,200 women on campus. These women, as part of other organizations and just as women in general, have all these other issues that they would like addressed."
Whether or not a group receives an actual voting spot in the council, however, does not determine their involvement in the monthly meetings.
"The meetings are open to everybody, but you just can't sit at the table. So groups can still go," Hankey said.
