YPU dissidents seeking a more perfect Union

JULIA TIERNAN/YH CORPS REQUIREMENT: Peace Corps Director Mark Gearan became the second guest speaker of the Yale College Student Union on Mon., Oct. 19.

This week, Peace Corps director Mark Gearan. Last week, former Central Intelligence Agency director James Woolsey. The new Yale College Student Union (YCSU), founded just last year, is drawing big names. By contrast, that other big-speaker generator, the Yale Political Union (YPU), has seen three speakers cancel their engagements this year, most recently San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown.

For YCSU Chair Matthew Rothman, BR '00, Woolsey's speech, YCSU's inaugural event, signified the success of the fledgling organization. He believes it is time such compelling speakers came to campus. "People expect guests of this caliber at a school like Yale," Rothman said.

The upstart YCSU is constantly and inevitably compared to the YPU, a more established organization also committed to bringing prominent speakers to Yale. The involvement of former members of the YPU in the YCSU, including Rothman, who used to be an officer in the Independent Party, has encouraged further comparison between the two organizations.

Rothman and Marc Lindemann, SY '98, founded the YCSU in October of 1997 because they "recognized that there was not an office in the Administration that existed exclusively to bring prominent speakers to campus," Rothman said. "There was a void." From the start, the founders had specific goals for the organization. "We wanted to be inclusive--to do more than just bring speakers, but to incorporate faculty and students. Our long-term goal is to become a forum for campus-wide debate," Rothman said.

YPU President Louis Tompros, SM '00, emphasized that the YPU and the YCSU are "two very different organizations." He insisted that the YPU has had many successful debates this year. Although he acknowledged some overlap of interests, Tompros said, "The YPU is about attracting guests of a political nature with very strong viewpoints. We open up debates to speeches from the floor. At some events, two students are slated ahead of time to speak from the floor. We want to hear from all sides."

Unlike the YCSU, whose mission statement declares that it "is a public service organization" and offers free admission to all its events, the YPU charges students a $15 annual membership fee to attend guest speeches. Tompros explained, "Ideally, we'd like all of our events to be free, but we just don't have the funds. We work from an endowment. [Membership fees are] a necessary evil that keep us running smoothly."

Each YCSU event is centered around a specific theme. This week's event, "How Far Will You Go To Make a Difference?", featured Gearan, Associate Pastor of the Church of Christ at Yale Reverend Samuel N. Slie, Associate Professor of Anthropology Eric W. Worby, and Dwight Hall co-coordinators Celine Miz-rahi, JE '00, and Avni Gupta, SY '00. The mixture of celebrity, faculty, and student speakers was indicative of the YCSU's broad mission.

The YCSU strives to attract speakers that appeal to different student interests by keeping in touch with undergraduates. "We use the shotgun approach: we ask everybody [their opinion]," Rothman said. The YCSU webpage (http://www.yale.edu/ycsu) allows visitors to request certain guests.

The YCSU has established partnerships with the School of Management and prominent Molecular Biology & Biophysics professors to help recruit speakers. "We are trying a strategy of entrenchment in the University," Rothman explained. "By affiliating ourselves with the professional schools and various departments, we will harness the connections and credibilities of professors and the departments and schools with which they are affiliated."

Another recently created organization, the nearly two-year-old Yale Film Society (YFS), has also become an associate organization of the YCSU. YFS founder and Co-Director Pavlina Hatoupis, SY '00, said she empathizes with a fellow new group on campus. "[The YFS] supports them," Hatoupis said. "If we have a guest who...has a political agenda or a guest who encompasses larger ideals, it would be much more effective if [the YCSU and YFS] go after these people together." She offered actor and activist Christopher Reeve, who is vocal about spinal cord injuries, as an example of someone the two organizations could approach together.

History professor John Gaddis, who spoke at the Woolsey event, praised the YCSU. "I was impressed by the number of students who turned out for the event of such a new organization, by the seriousness with which the event was received, and by the preeminence of the speakers. This shows promise for the future of the YCSU."

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