Two members of Dartmouth's Class of 2004 were elected to positions on the executive board of the Ivy Council, an organization that brings together student governments from each Ivy League school, by delegates attending a conference this past weekend at Columbia University.
Freshmen Stephanie Long and Josh Marcuse, attending their first Ivy Council conference, will serve in the positions of external vice president and internal vice president, respectively, for the next year. The other members of the executive board come from the other Ivies, and were also elected by delegates from the eight constituent schools.
According to Long, one of the most exciting things out of the conference was an enthusiasm generated by a completely new executive board which is focused on changing things for the better.
Long's responsibilities as external vice president will center on the planning and communication which occurs between planned events of the Council, which hosts two conferences and a summit each year.
"This involves knowledge exchange, finding out information from other schools, and making sure campuses are connected," she said.
Marcuse's duties will focus more on what kinds of subject matter are discussed at the planned events and making sure the delegates do their job.
"My role is to set the agenda," he said, adding that he would like to make some changes to how it is done.
"Currently, the council decides the agenda and then tells the schools. I want to ask schools what they think the important issues are and go from there. The agenda is going to be coming from a different place this year," Marcuse added.
Long had similarly high expectations for the future of the Council.
"It's a good way to connect the different schools," she said. "But it has the potential to be even larger and even more resourceful."
Both students championed the exchange of information between schools as one of the most useful aspects of the conference and the Ivy Council in general.
Marcuse said he views the role of the Council as improving student governments throughout the Ivy League by means of this information exchange.
On Saturday, conference delegates spent the day discussing certain issues and that presenting reports to students from other school. Topics included such diverse offerings as sexual violence, social/community service, modes of policy change and financial aid.
Marcuse said one of the more interesting discussions concentrated on residential education, which takes on special relevance at Dartmouth when compared to schools like Yale or Harvard which have college systems -- residential clusters to which students belong for most of their undergraduate careers.
Both Long and Marcuse cited their involvement in Student Assembly as the primary factor in their attendance at the conference. Both students are also involved with the freshman class council.
Marcuse also said that Dartmouth having this level of leadership in the Ivy Council isn't new -- the College has always had a strong presence in the organization.
Long and Marcuse were just two of several Dartmouth delegates from Dartmouth, led by head delegate Jessica Walters '03 and including a large number of freshmen.
