What is the role of ASCIT here and now? If this year’s BoD continues to shape up as an activist group, what opportunities and problems should we expect?

So what milestones are there to determine if this year’s ASCIT will be an activist group? For one, an activist ASCIT is skillful at mobilizing the student body towards some goal. If there is significant student turnout at the Student Experience Conference, say at least 100 people, this would be an indication that ASCIT is getting and directing the attention of the students to a specific purpose.

Another milestone would be hosting the ASCIT Prefrosh Party. This used to be held by the ASCIT Social Team in Dabney Hall, for a bit of a classy environment. It disappeared sometime after 2001, being gone before my prefrosh weekend back in spring 2003. Tommy Morphet has been pushing for such a party to be held, and it has been taken up as a project by the ASCIT Social Director, Ekta Bhojwani. Holding a successful party or social mixer that brings people out of the Houses would be a sign that ASCIT can organize an event that typically would only be held by a House.

Finally, an organized ASCIT will have better representation in the Houses, and when more people are involved with ASCIT, they will be visible spokespeople for the fact that ASCIT exists and does meaningful work for the students.

The ASCIT President, Caleb Ng, is working to institutionalize the President’s Staff established in Resolution 6 as a short-term project task force and revive the ASCIT Excomm as a long-term planning group as detailed in Article 6 of the Bylaws. Having at least one member of every House active in ASCIT would do a lot to increase the visibility of ASCIT.

Say ASCIT meets these milestones. During this time, ASCIT would also be getting more involved with decisions on behalf of the student body. What sort of problems can arise due to ASCIT asserting itself where they have not in previous years?

They can clash with the groups that consistently assert themselves year after year. Then-ASCIT President Eric Tuttle ‘01 told me that ASCIT and the IHC sparred a lot about appointment powers and their respective roles in dealing with issues that arise during the year.

This sparring is something that must be avoided in the coming years. It should be and is possible for ASCIT and the IHC to deal with issues that previously have fallen entirely to the IHC to deal with. From the perspective of a former IHC Chair, I strongly recommend that this year’s IHC recognize this as an opportunity to share the burden of responsibility somewhat. While the IHC has proven that it can deal with practically anything that comes up, a skillful delegation of issues that arise to ASCIT could make things easier for everyone.

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