Garland carried out an extensive evaluation of the organization's summer urban programs last year, and another board member is currently leading an evaluation of PBHA's mentoring programs to see if program goals are being met.

Program groups separated by category, such as after-school programs, teen programs and summer programs, meet on a regular basis, so program directors can give feedback to officers and get help with recruitment.

And efforts are being made to increase Cabinet participation among program directors, who are usually focused on their service programs and not on PBHA as a whole.

PBHA has also begun its Centennial Capital Campaign, which has the ambitious goal of adding $7.2 million to PBHA's coffers to ensure its long-term financial stability.

In the end, student leaders say that PBHA's public service mission trumps everything else.

"I have a great deal of respect for the students (and a great many who were not students) who stood up for the integrity of Phillips Brooks House Association, but I don't think even they would have wanted the fight to last forever," Purnell says. "The real fight is for the children and adults in our programs who live in the communities we serve."

Chan says she agrees.

"We run some of the best programs out there because of the dedication of individual students. I've seen some of the most committed students working late nights in the PBH computer lab, lending a hand at the last moment because it was needed, going the extra yard even though they didn't have to."