Student Life (1970s)

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Student Government

"If, toward the end of the decade, student activism had waned, the issue of student participation on the Board of Trustees still animated the campus. In 1978, the trustees engaged in what proved to be a prolonged debate with student leaders over granting them the right to elect voting members to the board.

Student government had come full circle at GW. In February 1970, the Student Assembly, in an act meant to emphasize its irrelevance, abolished itself. Once the domain of the fraternities and sororities, who used it to plan campus wide social events, the student government no longer appeared to have a legitimate place on the GW campus. But by 1975, the students had decided that they wanted their government back and sought, by holding a constitutional convention, to reinvent it. By the fall of 1976, student government was back in operation, and by 1978, the president of the Student Association sat in on regular Board of Trustees meetings as a guest of the chairman. In addition, one student served as a voting member of the trustees' Committee on Student Affairs and another as a voting member of the Committee on Academic Affairs.

In December 1978, Mark Weinberg, head of the Student Association, argued that the board should go further and put students on the board itself. He told the trustees that they needed input from the "most important group of the University" Another student argued that there was a lack of interest among GW students because they felt they had no stake in anything going on. Richard Lazarnick, another of the students who appeared before the trustees, said that students often criticized GW as a "real estate institution that offers courses." It lacked a sense of involvement among the students, he said. Each of these shortcomings could be remedied through student participation on the board.

For the moment, the students failed to sway the trustees, who offered only that there be a student representative on the Committee on University Development. Trustee Tad Lindner argued that every time the University wanted to provide services, it faced "an almost adversary market. I feel we must maintain absolute confidentiality when we are engaged in matters of that nature. I don't have the confidence that could be sustained if we had students on this board." This argument carried the day."

- From Strength to Strength: A Pictorial History of The George Washington University, 1996.

University publications in 1971-72 included the Communication Media, The Hatchet, The Cherry Tree, Academic Forum, Rock Creek, WRGW University radio station and the Student Directory. Performing arts included dance, theater and choral activities. Interest and service organizations included the AIESEC (an international business organization) and Alpha Kappa Psi (any male student enrolled in the University as a Business, Economics, or Accounting major was invited to join). American Civilization Undergraduate Society (an association of undergraduate students in the field of American Civilization), Alpha Phi Omega, ( a national men's service organization located on the GW campus), American Society of Civil Engineers (any engineering student interested in civil engineering was eligible), and the American Society of mechanical Engineers. - 1971-1972 Student Handbook

The Black Peoples Union was an organization of GW University students and alumni with the stated purpose "the ultimate and total liberation of Black people wherever we are. Specifically, we seek to promote unity and brotherhood among the Black population of GW, to provide for the independent pursuit of a knowledge of our history and culture, and to bridge the gap between education and the people in the community that it is to serve." Consistent with these, the BPU persuaded the University to implement the Education Opportunity Program, which was designed to increase educational opportunities for District of Columbia residents. - 1971-1972 Student Handbook

Caravansary International purpose was to stimulate, promote, foster development and sponsor forums, lectures, and discussion to further expand the exchange and dissemination of knowledge and ideas among peoples of all nations. - 1971-1972 Student Handbook

Cheerleaders lead the spirit of GW. Other groups included the Chess Club, Circle K (a nonsocial people-helping organization new to GW), College Republican Club ( which promoted the Republican Party), Committee for an All-University Government, Enosinian Debate Society (founded in 1822, it was involved in national intercollegiate debate and speech events), Freedom Leadership foundation, Geology Club and the German Club. - 1971-1919 Student Handbook

The organization of Arab Students was concerned with the Arab countries and their development. There was also The Christian Science organization, College Young Democrats, the Commission on Model Government, Consumer Protection Center of GW National Law Center, Ecology Action (formed fall 1971 and involved with newspaper recycling), Freedom Leadership Foundation (which worked toward world peace) and the Gay Peoples Alliance (to educate the Gay so that he/she may attain a better self-understanding , a forum of exchange, and the promotion of Gay solidarity.) - 1971-1972 Student Handbook

The Jewish Activist Front was a coalition of different political philosophies dedicated to alleviating problems facing the Jewish people in this community and around the world. There was the Legal Aid Bureau, GW Women's Liberation (open to all women "that the oppression of women is evident in every aspect of society and the fight against this oppression."), WRGW, Young Americans for Freedom ( an organization of young conservatives dedicated to the premises of limited government and individual rights), Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board. There were three sororities and eight fraternities. - 1971-1972 Student Handbook

Religious life on campus included the Baptist Student Union, B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation, Christian Science Organization, Eastern Orthodox Club, Lutheran Student Association, Newman Foundation, Religious Society of Friends, Unitarian-Universalist Club, United Christian Fellowship and Wesley Foundation. - 1971-1972 Student Handbook

Document Information

Images: 0
Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: GW Student Handbooks
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian

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