Just over a year after formally severing ties with the Dartmouth chapter of the Ivy Council, the Student Assembly voted to reestablish relations with the body Tuesday, narrowly achieving the three-quarters majority necessary for the constitutional change after extensive debate that caused a motion for instant-runoff voting to be tabled until next week.
Ivy Council, an organization comprised of student government delegations from the eight Ivy League schools, meets once per term and will convene at Dartmouth in the spring.
Logistical issues caused Dartmouth's Ivy Council to effectively break off from the Assembly three years ago and become a Council on Student Organizations-sponsored group.
"The benefits didn't outweigh the consequences of this decision," amendment co-sponsor Dave Zubricki '07 said of the earlier decision he attempted to rectify.
Dealing with budget constraints of its own, COSO insisted this year that several of its recognized organizations seek outside sources of funding.
Russell Lane '06, who headed Dartmouth's Ivy Council during his last three terms on campus, introduced the legislation. Lane noted that there is a large overlap in membership between the Council and the Assembly and that bringing the Council back under the Assembly will streamline communication between the Assembly and other Ivy League student governments.
The legislation will also solve funding problems for Dartmouth's Ivy Council, now that the Assembly's financial circumstances have made it possible to again support the organization. Under the new rule, the Assembly will vote on a local council chair, who will then decide how to appoint members to the Council delegation.
The only amendment suggested to the measure came from Lucas Nikkel '05, who objected to allowing students who are not on the Assembly to be part of the Ivy Council delegation. The amendment was eventually rejected.
The legislation's sponsors defended their decision to open up seats on the delegation to the entire campus.
"We need people from more diverse backgrounds," co-sponsor Jacques Hebert '07 said.
Hebert cited bringing the Environmental Conservation Organization and Programming Board members to the last Ivy Council meeting at Yale as examples of how non-Assembly members can make important contributions.
Nikkel responded that having to go outside of the Assembly for Ivy Council representatives reflects a "failure on the part of SA" to attract diverse-enough students in the first place.
The second amendment on the Assembly's agenda, to set up instant-runoff voting for student body presidential elections, was not voted on because too many voting members had left the meeting.
Instant-runoff voting would ask students to rank candidates on their ballots. If no candidate achieves a majority, the votes of those who selected the last-place candidate are redistributed to those voters' next-highest choices. This process repeats until a candidate wins a majority.
Dave Hankins '05 introduced the measure, which will be voted on next week. Instant-runoff voting "would help the people who are elected know that they have the support" of the student body, he said.
Student Body President Julia Hildreth '05, who was elected by one vote last spring under plurality rules, said she is supportive of the measure. She said she felt supported by the administration and students after her close victory last year, but that new voting procedures will "increase the next person's legitimacy."
Hankins is hopeful that his legislation will pass next week.
"It's going to be close," Hankins said. "It's always difficult to pass anything this new and this drastic."
