Word: sac
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Tomorrow the Student Advisory Committee (SAC) of the Institute of Politics (IOP) will cease to exist. This follows the decision of Sen. David M. Pryor, director of the Institute, to dissolve the current governing structure in the hopes of forming a new, more open body--an admirable move. SAC had long wrestled with the problematic nature of its structure and, like many students, I am pleased by Pryor's move to address them...
Unfortunately, some students used this occasion to exaggerate the disadvantages inherent in the structure of SAC, the body that for over three decades has led student involvement at the IOP. These students made several inaccurate claims about the power and privileges of its members and the process by which it selected them. I hope to clarify these misperceptions about SAC to inform the discussions about future student involvement...
Three years ago a few SAC members suggested implementing democratic elections at the IOP, but SAC as a whole rejected the idea. Furthermore, many SAC members have rightly stated that we have spent much of the past year working to make the Institute more inclusive for Harvard's undergraduates. Unfortunately, during that time period the idea of democratic elections was never once considered...
...seems unreasonable for students now to complain that Sen. Pryor should have consulted SAC before making a change that will transform the IOP into an open, democratic institution. SAC would have refused the very change that will help end the favoritism and exclusion inherent in its particularly self-selecting system...
Furthermore, one major complaint from many SAC members is that it is unfair for the director and staff to demand that SAC change. However, reconstituting the IOP student leadership is merely part of a two-year transition process that has affected the entire Institute. Last year the IOP staff was restructured--some staff members were given additional tasks while some had their responsibilities diminished or changed. Overall, the staff has been restructured much to the improvement of the Institute. Now it is time for the same measures to apply to SAC...