A secretive self-selection processes. Closed meetings. Unpublicized minutes. Exclusive luncheons. Special privileges for members.

It may sound more like a secret society than a Harvard political organization, but some students charge that these phrases aptly depict the Student Advisory Committee (SAC), the governing body of the Institute of Politics (IOP).

These students are proposing structural reforms in the selection of SAC members, which they hope will end years, if not decades, of what they see as, at best, an exclusive governing body which takes for itself special perks and, at worst, a self-perpetuating old boys' network.

"There is a definite caste system at the IOP," says former IOP member David B. Alpert '00, who was not on SAC. "Some people in SAC feel they're more important...and entitled to extra [privileges] because they're in this higher class of people."

Central to the reform proposals is for the IOP's committees--which plan events, internships and study groups--to elect their own chairs to SAC. Currently SAC picks committee chairs from among its own ranks.

The proposal will be considered by SAC in January, and whether it will muster the two-thirds majority necessary to pass is, for now, anyone's guess.

But whether or not the specific proposal passes, some point to the fact that SAC is entertaining notions of reform and has, over the past several years, become a more diverse body as evidence of a movement in a more inclusive direction.

In particular, they point to the recent election of SAC Chair Byron J. McLain '00, who says the goals of his term include making all welcome.

"I think that my freshman year there still existed a tangible 'old boys network' at the IOP. In fact, as a first-year I initially questioned whether or not the IOP was a place where I wanted to spend a majority of my time, since I particularly did not see many minorities involved there," says McLain, who is black.

But he notes that SAC is now a much moreinclusive body than it was then--14 of 30 currentSAC members are women and 12 are minorities--andhe pledges to empower those who are at thecommittee level.

"I can promise you that the students who becomeinvolved in the IOP's programming and planningevents will be more diverse next semester and nextyear," he says.

Levels of Hierarchy

Many charge that SAC--which is composed eachyear of 25 to 30 students who are chosen fromamong the associates, or regular participants ofthe IOP--takes privileges for themselves they donot grant to other members.

Critics point out that SAC members often takespecial seating at IOP events and participate inexclusive luncheons with visiting politicians.Last spring, for example, SAC members had a brunchwith Henry Kissinger '50--a fact that associateswere not officially alerted to.

Critics also charge that SAC is not responsiveto opinions of non-SAC members.

"It is frustrating to try to coordinate withpeople at higher levels," says former associateRachel L. Brown '01, who says she had difficultieswhen planning an internship forum and left the IOPafter her first year. "I felt like I was runninginto a brick wall with my ideas."