History
When the Activist Council was founded by Seth Flaxman in 2005, it was intended to be a consensus-based organization without a formal hierarchy. As a compromise between that vision and the reality that some form of guiding leadership is necessary to deal with mundane administrative tasks in student political organizations, the position of Lead Activist was formed. These activists lead meetings, communicate directly with the Executive Board, and form working relationships with administrators to facilitate Activist Council events. The terms of the four Lead Activists are arranged to overlap, with two chosen each Fall and two chosen each Spring.
During the 2006-2007 year, it became clear that the Lead Activists—who had each begun to attend every board meeting and to hold negotiations with other student groups on the organization's behalf—were serving as de facto members of the Executive Board without a formal vote on executive decisions. In recognition of this fact, one of the McKenna Amendments passed unanimously during the second meeting of the 2007-2008 Executive Board gave a vote to each of the Lead Activists. The amendment was subsequently passed by an overwhelming majority at the following body meeting.
Useful Information
The Administration And You: Event Planning!
Planning events takes a tremendous amount of actual thought and creativity, but the Columbia bureaucracy cannot be ignored. You must request space and furniture, speak with the Dems advisor, talk to security, etc.
- Advisor
- Space Request: The procedures are different at Columbia and Barnard. Please use this detailed guide.
- Furniture Request: For tables, chairs, etc. They will deliver the furniture to your event, but not between campuses (CU and BC have their own offices)
- Security
This is in progress. These are notes.
- Working with other branches of the Dems.
- ude.aibmuloc|tcasmeD#ude.aibmuloc|tcasmeD
- E-mails, running meetings, etc.
- Greasing the wheels
