Former Council President Robert M. Hyman '98 and his successor, Lamelle D. Rawlins '99, where the first in recent memory to give the council a socially progressive bent.

Hyman, who in his third term became the first popularly elected council president, began advocating anonymous HIV testing at UHS, voter registration and an ethnic studies program, along with bills for Springfest.

Rawlins, Hyman's vice president, continued the trend when she received the gavel, heavily recruiting minorities for the council. Under Hyman and Rawlins, a docket filled with bills from the Campus Life Committee (CLC) had to make room for more legislation from the Student Affairs Committee (SAC), a group which recommends policy changes to administrators.

In November 1997, the presidential and vice presidential elections, several candidates advocated practicality over politics. Beth A. Stewart '00 and Samuel C. Cohen '00 ran for office on a platform of "depoliticizing" the council. Stewart and Cohen took a new approach, advocating student services and increased support for student groups.

In a candidate profile in The Crimson just before the 1997 elections, Cohen said, "We only want to lobby the administration on stuff that directly affects student lives."

Stewart and Cohen kept their word. Council accomplishments under their rule included frozen yogurt in Annenberg and fly-by lunches in Loker commons. Student services were firmly placed in the spotlight, and Free Burma bills were essentially a thing of the past.