"Reform" was the catch-word on every Undergraduate Council member's lips, but attempts to overhaul the often-maligned council this year met with only partial success.

Although the council made history with the election of its first woman president, Lamelle D. Rawlins '99, it was plagued throughout the year by fierce battles over the budget, campus-wide elections, anti-discrimination bills and, finally, the long-awaited structural reform.

"The council is incapable of fixing itself," said council member Marco B. Simons '97. "It is an inherently conservative body."

However, the council altered its own constitution to increase anti-discrimination protections and tackled problems such as Memorial Church's policy banning same-sex blessing ceremonies and the University's lack of recognition of gender identity in its nondiscrimination policy.

Making History

The council made national news when, after only its second round of campus-wide elections, it saw its first female president in its 15-year history.

Rawlins rose rapidly through the council's executive ranks over the last two years, serving as both secretary and vice president before taking over its highest post.

Rawlins, who is known for her strong feminist stance, said she hoped her high profile position would encourage other women on campus.

"For women who will be in the class of 2001 and women who are already here on campus, it can only help to see a woman as the student body president," Rawlins said during her campaign.

Yet Rawlins's victory did not come without a difficult battle. She narrowly beat out a field of 11 other candidates. Her running mate, Michael A. O'Mary '99, lost to rival Mark A. Price '98.

Highly organized campaign machines increasingly dominated the elections: Many more candidates ran together on tickets and were assisted by coordinated campaign managers and publicists. The election commission was deluged by reports of campaign rules violations.

Elected as vice president along with running mate Robert M. Hyman '98 in the first campus-wide elections last April, Rawlins also had to face a challenging first semester in council leadership.

Despite high hopes that a popularly elected leadership would smooth out ideological differences between council factions, many members criticized Hyman and Rawlins's administration for exacerbating differences through strong-arm administrative tactics.

Vice-presidential candidate Joseph A. Sena '99, who is a Crimson executive, characterized the first half of the year as bitterly divisive.

"A lot of the hostility was between the people running the council and the people on the council, especially around election time," Sena said in a year-end interview.