The Nominations and Elections Committee announced last night its selection of the campus group ALLIES to occupy the fifth and final University Council seat.
ALLIES Co-Chairwoman Aviva Moster, a College senior, said that "this is the first time [a Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender] group has been on the UC." The UC is a forum for students to communicate with administrators about campus issues and policies.
After the first wave of applications, the NEC chose the Civic House Associates Coalition, InterFraternity Council, Asian Pacific Student Coalition and Latino Coalition but returned to the Undergraduate Assembly to request permission to hold a second round of applications for the last seat.
In this round, six new groups applied -- The Student Activities Committee, PENNeurope, Wharton Women, Women in Leadership Series, UMOJA and ALLIES -- but only the last three were invited back for interviews.
NEC chairwoman Rebecca Silberman, a College senior, said the decision was nearly unanimous. "They would benefit most from the decision-making process of the UC."
Moster attributes this to the confusion of ALLIES constituents -- "We feel as though our constituency is not always as obvious and out and about as other groups." She concluded that they "don't get the representation that they deserve," but added that "this is a step in the right direction."
"What we would really like to see is a change in curriculum," Moster added. "We feel as if there is not enough LGBT studies at this University."
UC steering representative for the UA Jason Levy, a College junior, has played an active role this year in maximizing the potential for student voices on the UC. "I'm so happy that we gave them a chance," Levy said. "For very understandable reasons, they might find it difficult to openly and actively express their views and their interests to Penn's administration."
Another collaboration between the UA and the NEC will be "promoting the availability of open forums to student groups," Levy said. The first groups they will target will be those that were denied seats.
