Reflections on the Student Councils: ESC

"As a council, what has been different this year is unity in how we approached initiatives," outgoing Engineering Student Council President Dan Okin said after one of the board's final meetings of the year. "I don't want to demean [last year's ESC President] Tom [Fazzio], but ... we've been more of a friendly meeting environment."

Looking to their efforts on reforming academic advising, planning events to improve a sense of community within the school, and cooperation with the other undergraduate schools, members of the board said they considered this year a success, and pointed to an increased voter-participation rate in this year's election, where more than half of the student body voted, as proof of their effectiveness. But as this year's ESC prepares to move on, many both within and beyond the board have noted that one of their overarching achievements may have been creating a family-like dynamic within the board and strong relationships elsewhere.

SGA President Eman Bataineh, BC '07, commended the board on its commitment to student programming. "Liz [Strauss] is so passionate about the community, and she has really led the way ... in getting these community events together."

"Personal commitment has made a huge impact on the work we do together," Bataineh observed, saying that Okin is committed to the student body he represents as well as the University as a whole.

Okin explained that while there has always been tension between student councils because of the different needs of their respective constituents, this year, he and CCSC President Seth Flaxman, CC '07, got along well. Flaxman in turn praised this year's ESC executive board for its collaboration on issues like academic advising.

Scott Wright, director of Housing and Dining, agreed that the relationship between Dan and Seth had a positive effect. "They know how important it is to get both opinions aired." He observed that this year's ESC council was "probably the most proactive board in bringing up things ... for us to question and talk about."

In addition to serving its constituents, the board has also reached out to the Student Governing Board and Community Impact. "This is the first time that ESC has worked so closely with CI and kind of put CI on the same line as the other governing boards," John Gardner, CC '08 and one of the six CI student executives, said. "In the past, CI has been kind of neglected and thought of as a separate entity, and that hurts everyone. I can't praise them strongly enough."

Jonathan Siegel, CC '08 and incoming chair of SGB, explained that in the past, relationships between the councils and SGB have been strained, but "ESC in particular has taken a role to reverse that trend so that the SGB can better serve the university."

Acadia Roher, BC '10 and a member of Green Umbrella-an umbrella organization for environmental groups on campus-criticized the ESC for not following through on its efforts to reach out to the environmental groups.

Keith Hernandez, president of the Activities Board at Columbia, also said there could have been more effort on the part of the ESC, CCSC, and ABC to integrate the School of General Studies into the greater undergraduate community. "I think ESC understands more than CCSC what it feels to be marginalized," Hernandez said.