Ann Arbor - The undergraduate student governments of the Big Ten voted to dissolve their organization and replace it with a biannual meeting Sunday at the University of Michigan.
ASMSU, MSU’s undergraduate student government, was the only school that voted to keep the Associated Students of the Big Ten. The University of Wisconsin and Northwestern University did not attend the event.
The three executive positions of the organization were combined into one, and representatives from the schools will meet two times a year instead of three.
Although ASMSU representatives brought home ideas about a proposed multicultural center and housing, Quinn Wright, ASMSU’s Student Assembly chairperson, said MSU’s organization likely will not attend the next conference at the University of Illinois in July.
“They turned it into a mockery of what it was supposed to be,” Wright said. “Now (the Big Ten association) is not defined.
“They did not want to give it a concrete purpose or agenda, and that leads to a chaotic state.”
The Associated Students of the Big Ten formed in 1993 because representatives wanted to make the organization more goal-oriented than the previous Network of Big Ten Students. A constitution was collaboratively formed by the Big Ten schools, excluding Pennsylvania State University. Executives were elected to run the organization and conferences.
It was designed to network, and lobby for student issues with the backing of the Big Ten governments.
Laura Sorensen, ASMSU’s Student Assembly Women’s Council representative, intended to introduce a rape education bill, but it was not discussed because of the organization shift.
“It could have been an exciting opportunity for us to collectively voice the concerns of the Big Ten schools,” Sorensen said. “It’s very disappointing that the other Big Ten schools wanted to take that in another direction.”
Kris Ankarlo, Penn State’s Council of Commonwealth Student Governments president, said he instigated the reviewing of the organization because its meetings weren’t serious.
Ankarlo flipped a coin to decide his vote on several issues at the conference.
“We haven’t been tapping the full potential of this group,” Ankarlo said. “It’s very worthwhile to swap stories, and find out what’s going on.”
But Matt Clayson, ASMSU’s Academic Assembly chairperson, said members of the organization only are trying to appear responsible.
“All this is, is a drunk fest,” Clayson said. “It’s pathetic because a few bad seeds gives the whole organization a bad name.
“MSU takes this conference seriously. We get a lot of ideas here, and come back with so much more than when we left.”
Clayson also said the conference is becoming a competitive “showboat” for universities.
U-M spent about $13,000 to host the conference compared to the about $4,000 Penn State spent.
Matt Nolan, U-M’s undergraduate student government president, said $7,000 was spent on the formal dinner at U-M’s botanical gardens.
“We want to showcase our institution because we are proud,” Nolan said. “There’s a line to be drawn, but you don’t invite the president and provost to a pizza party.”
