President Warns Council of 'Crisis' at First Meeting

“The College is in crisis,” Undergraduate Council president Rohit Chopra ’04 declared at the council’s first meeting of the year last night.

Chopra enumerated a host of problems currently plaguing undergraduate life, ranging from the “pathetic state of mental health resources” to the need for more student space.

He also said that the council would continue to struggle with the repercussions of the ouster of former Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 and the subsequent administrative restructuring.

Chopra called the reshuffling a “power transfer to central faculty.”

“Almost everyone we worked with has gone,” he said.

On the mental health front, Chopra referenced high rates of depression and suicidal thoughts among undergraduates—observed by a University Health Services (UHS) survey last spring—as evidence that support services need improvement.

More generally, he charged that students receive poor care from UHS.

Chopra said that he plans to reintroduce a Student Health Advisory Committee to the council to study the issue.

Chopra also said the council should fight for a renovation of the Malkin Athletic Center and more funding for House gyms, increased access to the University’s library collections and a strengthened role in the College’s curricular review and disciplinary process.

Chopra also lectured new council members on the importance of actively asserting their right to be a part of College decision-making.

“The notion that student government has any control over anything is an obstacle,” Chopra said. “It’s important to realize our limitations in this place that we love to hate and hate to love.”

But Chopra’s speech wasn’t meant to be all somber; “The campus must have some fun,” he added.

Chopra said that this year’s Campus Life Committee should try to extend the deadline for room parties to 2 a.m., host more events for first-years in Loker Commons and try to bring more student-friendly productions to Sanders Theatre.

“Even despite any inherent or formal power, the council is still in the best place that it has been,” he said.

“Let’s get to work and fix this place,” Chopra said.

The council also introduced its 30 new members and elected Andrew C. Stillman ’06 as its secretary and Michael R. Blickstead ’04 as treasurer.

—Staff writer Ebonie D. Hazle can be reached at hazle@fas.harvard.edu.