The resignation of a student representative to the Division of Public Safety Advisory Board has called into question the effectiveness of the students on the board.
The DPS Advisory Board previously included representatives from the Undergraduate Assembly, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and the United Minorities Council.
Alex Breland served as the representative from the UMC until his resignation Tuesday night.
Breland resigned when the board denied his requests for drastic procedural and substantive changes to the group, namely the prompt creation of a civilian review board.
Discussion about a civilian review board began after an incident in January in which then-College senior Dimitri Dube was allegedly harassed by Penn Police officers. Dube claimed that the officers had racial motivations for stopping him as he walked back to his dormitory early one Saturday morning.
UMC leaders said Tuesday night that they supported Breland's decision to resign.
According to DPS Advisory Board Chairman Dennis Culhane, a UMC representative was first added to the board last spring, partly in response to the incident. UA and GAPSA representatives have held positions on the board for at least two years.
The ability of student representatives to have an impact on the board "are like [that of] any other member on the committee," Culhane said, adding, "we've had a fine relationship."
Student representatives are proponents of the creation of a civilian review board and have expressed their opinions at meetings -- but so far, little progress has been made.
Matt Lattman, an Engineering junior, is the chairman of the UA Facilities committee and was recently appointed as student representative to the Advisory Board.
Tuesday's meeting was Lattman's first. He had to leave early and missed Breland's statement and resignation.
Lattman would not comment on Breland's resignation. He said, however, that he did not know the agenda prior to the meeting and was not prepared to discuss the possible creation of a civilian review board.
"I was not made privy to the fact that anything was going to be brought up with regard to the civilian review board," he said. "I was not aware that we were going to have to defend and discuss the UA's position."
The UA passed a resolution last spring, echoing the UMC's belief that a civilian review board should be created to address complaints about Public Safety.
Lattman pledged to fight for the UA's agenda in his capacity as student representative.
"I am serving on this board as a representative from the UA, thus my positions will be the positions of the UA," he said.
The DPS Advisory Board meets three times a year for a presentation from Public Safety, followed by an open discussion, according to Culhane.
"I don't recall any of those discussions being contentious," Culhane said.
GAPSA Executive Board members could not be reached for comment last night.
