My name is Matthew Newman and I’m the president of the Independent Council. The Independent Council is a branch of student government which represents independents: all students who choose not to join a social fraternity or sorority. The IC’s primary task is to make certain the concerns of said students are represented properly in student government. This means that the IC is tasked with the representation every incoming freshman, nearly all graduate students, and over 50 percent of all upperclassman in the realm of student government. In the past we have sponsored events, such as our Annual Pool Tournament and comedy shows performed by RPI’s own Sheer Idiocy. We hope to hold more events for students in the coming semester.
We are looking for new ideas for the fall as we begin to expand our horizons. We have begun working with the Panhellenic Council by helping with the soup kitchen in downtown Troy and are looking for interested volunteers for additional community service work.
Early in the fall semester, the Independent Council will be deciding on courses to survey. RPI does their own course surveys, but the results are never released to the students. The IC surveys are published in the pages of The Polytechnic. Our surveys have been a resource for students when deciding on electives and professors for years. We intend on continuing this service in the future, and are always looking for help in the process.
If you are interested in the IC, send an e-mail to ic@union.rpi.edu, stop by one of our meetings, or check out our website, by pointing your browser to http://independent.union.rpi.edu/. The Independent Council meets on Tuesdays at 9 pm during the semester and the meetings are open to all students, not just independents, so feel free to stop by. Thank you, and I hope you all enjoy the rest of your summer.
