Faced with a lack of funds and an ill-defined purpose, members of Campus Council decided in late February to dissolve the organization for the remainder of the academic year. The council plans to reconvene next fall.
Formed as part of the 1995 residential plan, the council was conceived as a body consisting of representatives from each of the eight West Campus quadrangle councils who would deliberate on residential matters. The council was also intended to act as an umbrella organization for the quad councils and, to that end, was given $75,000 from President Nan Keohane's personal fund to use at its members' discretion.
A misunderstanding about how the group would be funded sparked much of the current problem, said Trinity senior Kazuma Sonoda, a council member and last year's vice president. Members were under the impression that the council would receive annual finances from Keohane's fund, which they were expected to spend in one year's time.
But after the first year, Sonoda said, the council was told that the initial funds had been intended to last several years. As a result, the organization proceeded this year with the meager leftovers of the initial allocation. "If we had known we were going to have to spend the funds over [several] years, of course we would have allocated and spent them a little more carefully," he said.
Debbie LoBiondo, assistant dean of student development and adviser to the council, said that after sponsoring a leadership conference in January, the council's treasury had dwindled to its current balance of about $8,000.
In addition to financial complications, Sonoda said, members of the organization also struggled with the ambiguity of its stated purpose.
"As I remember it, it seemed to be the consensus among the [council] members that Duke Student Government and the quad council system... fulfilled the necessary roles in campus government," said Trinity sophomore Field Price, president of the council. "We as a council did not want to infringe on or overlap those roles."
To address problems caused by its vague charter, council members tried briefly to expand their role to include both inter-quad programming and policy-making, said Trinity junior Sarah Flaherty, vice president of the council. But because such functions are already served by the Quad Presidents Committee and DSG respectively, neither endeavor met with success.
Early this semester, LoBiondo said, the council drafted a constitution to define explicitly its role on campus-but the draft was eventually rejected, she continued, possibly because it included a clause requiring each quad council to pass on 25 percent of its funds to Campus Council.
"We continue to hear from the quad councils that they are bombarded with requests for funding from student groups," LoBiondo said. "The rationale was that... these student groups could go [instead] to the Campus Council for funds." She also said she felt Campus Council could have provided an efficient and reliable funding source for students organizing annual events such as Devil's Eve and the Last Day of Classes celebration.
Price said he was frustrated by the outcome of the council's work on the constitution. "I am disappointed that a group of such committed individuals could not find a purpose for the council," he said.
Despite its difficulty finding a niche on campus, Sonoda said he believes the council has "great potential" to serve students.
"It could do a lot for students because it is such a direct representative body," he said. Sometimes you can't get to your DSG representative, but you're always able to see people on your quad council. The problem is, we have this direct link, but we don't know what to do with it because we have no power to change the things we're receiving input on."
Sonoda said the most important tasks facing members of next year's council and its associated administrators in the Office of Student Development are the generation of an organizational plan and a distinct statement of purpose for the group.
Student leaders will meet this summer to discuss the structure and purpose the organization should assume next year, LoBiondo said.
Gathering the quad council presidents and one other representative from each quad, she continued, would be one possible way to formulate next year's council; each quad's representative would come from a different type of living group-selective or independent-than its president.
"One of the things I want to be sure of," LoBiondo said, "is an equal voice for all students-both selective and independent."
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