Students interested in gaining a voice on campus affairs or those eager to try out something new, have the chance to take on a greater role through the Michigan Student Assembly.
- Paul Wong
- LSA senior Sarah Boot was sworn in as the new MSA president April 2, 2002. (ALYSSA WOOD/Daily)
MSA is the main student governing body on campus. Every college and school, including the Rackham Graduate School and Law School, is represented proportionally in MSA with at least one representative. The assembly is led this year by LSA senior President Sarah Boot and Vice President Dana Glassel, an LSA junior.
MSA meetings are open to the public and convene every Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Michigan Union. The central issues of most meetings are resolutions usually calling for either MSA funding to certain student projects or demanding that the Assembly take an ideological stance on an issue. Committees also report their weekly progress, and budget issues or proposed changes to various MSA procedural rules are often discussed at every meeting.
MSA serves two main purposes. It creates tangible results through its large bureaucratic system of committees and commissions, which consist of both representatives and regular students who work on various campus projects during the week. These committees sponsor forums and programs on issues, including campus safety, sexual assault awareness and diversity. One committee and one commission also have power to appropriate MSA funds to various student groups. Groups can apply to MSA for money and each year the assembly hands out over $200,000 to various campus groups.
MSA also has the power to lobby the University’s administration to make major changes on campus. Last year, many MSA representatives focused on several projects, and by the end of the year, the assembly had created a fall study break, extended recreational building hours and expanded the availability of Entr