At a University with a rich academic and athletic history, 1976 was a momentous year. Michigan's football team had a 10-2 season, placed first in the conference and went to the Rose Bowl. While it may be remembered for its infamous football season, few may remember that the year also marked the establishment of the Michigan Student Assembly.

MSA is one of several names that have been adopted by the University’s central student government, but its establishment signified a new era of student government and an opportunity to resolve the shortcomings of the preceding student governing body, the Student Government Association.

Since 1906, the University has relied on a student governing organization to act as a leading force for student representation. Throughout the last century, student government presidents have tackled campus issues like affirmative action and the creation of a fall study break. More recently, MSA has advocated for an open housing in University residence halls, which would allow students to live with a student of a different gender, and it has aimed to bolster student relations with the assembly.

After Donald House unexpectedly inherited the position of first MSA president in 1976, he soon realized that creating a new and effective student government was not a task that would be easily accomplished.

House, now 57 and a resident of Chelsea, Mich., became involved with SGA when he took the position of SGA treasurer during his first year of graduate school at the University. According to House, he was looking for a way to become involved on campus after managing the student radio station at Vanderbilt University, where he had received his undergraduate degree.

After a lawsuit involving the SGA president and vice president, student government members decided to remove both officials from their executive positions. This made the treasurer next in line for the presidency.

“I was in shock because I got the notice under my dorm room door that the president and vice president had been removed from office,” House said. “I (had seen) myself as an accountant or business manager, clearly not a politician.”

The first matter House faced as MSA president dealt with a referendum from the fall of 1975 that proposed changing the name Student Government Association to the Michigan Student Assembly. House said he wasn’t prepared for the immediate name change or the overhaul of student government positions and regulations that he thought would occur at the end of the school year in response to the lawsuit.

“I think we naively assumed that we had several months to put it together and get it set up,” he said.

As the new MSA president, House had a lot of work to do to establish a stable student government, given SGA’s history of lawsuits and proceedings that were debilitating to the organization.

SGA left little foundation for MSA to build off, and House’s main goal was to create a new structure for student government, which included drafting a new constitution and compiled code.

“At the first meeting … everybody recognized that we didn’t have a constitution, we didn’t have compiled code … we just had Robert’s Rules of Order,” House said, referring to a reference guide on parliamentary procedure. “I think that was the biggest issue that we dealt with the first couple weeks, just so that we would know what the rules were and how we were going to work.”

According to House, the preceding SGA administration spent an unnecessary amount of time arguing over and dealing with inconsequential matters. Members of the newly-founded MSA sought to remedy these practices by using time more effectively. The members also decided to appoint representatives from each of the University’s colleges to serve in the governing body.

“Having a representative from (every) school or college government changed the mix of who was in the assembly room at any given time, compared to SGA,” House said.