The Undergraduate Council of Students hosted a town hall to discuss its initiatives to increase student representation in and engagement with the University’s administrative bodies.
The event follows a UCS-organized referendum demanding student seats on the Corporation, the University’s highest governing body. The non-binding referendum passed by a margin of 1,368 to 508 students with a turnout rate of 26%, The Herald previously reported.
The Corporation has no obligation to honor the referendum’s outcome nor has it promised seats to students. Previously, it has chosen not to permit students to become Corporation trustees, according to University Spokesperson Brian Clark. As part of those deliberations, the Corporation added seats for recent alums.
Around 25 students gathered in Barus and Holley on Wednesday to discuss how to actualize the referendum’s demands and involve students in University decision-making processes.
At the event, students divided into small groups to brainstorm what a student seat on the Corporation might look like in practice. In the small groups, attendees considered what would qualify students for a seat on the Corporation.
Attendee Kenneth Kalu ’27 said he found the Corporation’s recent decision to reject Brown Divestment Coalition’s proposal for divestment from 10 companies with ties to the Israeli military, among other decisions, to be “upsetting” and “concerning.”
Kalu believes that “having a formalized process through which elected groups of students can condense and disseminate the perspectives of the student body” on the Corporation could be a helpful mechanism of change.
But other attendees worried that introducing an election process to select student representatives would only encourage students that are more politically active to run for seats, potentially skewing the applicant pool.
UCS Appointments Director Isaac Slevin ’25 hopes the position will be filled by “students whose job is not to be experts in the field, but to speak directly to the student experience.”
But without an election process, attendees were unsure how the student representative could be unbiased and reflect the priorities of the student body, rather than promote a specific agenda.
Attendees also stressed the importance of student government in holding the University’s administration accountable.
UCS has “a responsibility to represent the entire student body, whether they voted for us or not,” Slevin said. “We need to make ourselves as open as possible to everyone.”
In hopes of increasing transparency, UCS President Niyanta Nepal ’25 outlined proposed and ongoing revisions to the council’s current structures, including reintroductions of the general body, a group within UCS that is open to any Brown undergraduate. It was previously eliminated in fall 2022.
Nepal invited attendees to become voting members of the revamped general body.
She also discussed plans to increase student engagement with UCS through informal dinners between club leaders and UCS members to meet “students where they’re at.”
UCS will also introduce a committee to gather student opinions on a proposal for student seats on the Corporation that they hope will be pitched to the governing body.
Nepal said that the Wednesday town hall was a valuable source of feedback and engagement from the student body.
“I think that there is a base of students who have a lot of insightful opinions” on potential occupancy of a Corporation seat, she said.
Slevin characterized the event as a success. “This is the start of a long road towards getting students the changes at the University that we need,” he said.
Kate Butts is a senior staff writer covering University Hall. Outside of The Herald, she loves running, board games and Trader Joe's snacks.
