In its uniquely chaotic way, the Graduate Student Council began a process of self-examination last night. Prompted by a proposed resolution to express solidarity with nonviolent protests at universities across America, we started to address the question of whom we represent and what kinds of protests we consider appropriate.

The GSC is a body of students representing the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Department administrators generally appoint representatives on a volunteer basis—in other words, there is no formal or standardized election process. The primary job of the GSC is to allocate research and travel grants supported by the mandatory $25 fee assessed to every resident GSAS student in the fall of each academic year. Like us, many student representatives are first-years who are new to the University and have not yet had an opportunity to collaborate with other students in their departments. In addition, many departments have several representatives that attend the meetings on a rotating basis, so there is often a lack of continuity in representation between meetings.

For the most part, it is reasonable to state that GSC votes have largely been noncontroversial and unknown to the majority of the graduate student body. However, as reported in the Crimson on Thursday, we have begun a discussion over the last two months about whether the council should adopt the role of making political statements. Let us be clear, this debate is not about the proposed resolution to stand in solidarity with nonviolent protests. As a social worker and a nurse studying health policy, we are dedicated to issues of social justice. This debate, however, is about whether GSAS students want the GSC to represent them in this manner. Though this debate was triggered by the proposed resolution on nonviolent protests, it could have just as easily been started by a group presenting a resolution asking GSC to condemn the eating of animal products on campus, asking the GSC to stand in solidarity with pro-life groups, or even asking for an endorsement for a candidate of a political party. We believe the GSC should be as politically active as its voting members desire. And to ensure that this goal is met, we invite all GSAS students to the March meeting, when we will discuss these issues further. The meeting will be held March 7th in Longwood Medical Area in the TMEC Building.

In particular, we will discuss and vote on the following resolution: “GSC representatives shall be empowered to vote on issues of a political nature not uniquely related to the graduate school or graduate students.” There are 57 graduate divisions, departments, and committees in GSAS—each with its own delegation to the GSC—yet a mere 38 votes were recorded on last night’s resolution on nonviolent protests. It is obvious that this is not a clear majority. We have much more to discuss, and if last night’s meeting was any indication, it promises to be a lively discussion.

Laura McDaniel and Dahianna Lopez are both doctoral students in Health Policy.