Rackham Student Government (University of Michigan)

Formerly known as the Graduate Student Council and the Graduate Assembly.

When the Graduate Student Council (GSC) was founded on March 30, 1938, it was the first council of its kind at an American university. The GSC's mandate was to coordinate graduate-student activities, especially in regard to academics, student organizations, and housing. Forty-seven representatives gathered in the Horace H. Rackham Building for the council's first meeting in November 1938.

The council's earliest activities included faculty/student mixers, student dances, and a study of the language skills required by doctoral programs. In 1954, the council updated its constitution, and revised its bylaws.

In the 1960s, the council further revised its constitution and conducted a study of the Selective Service System. Student finances were a major concern for the council as it sought to lower fees associated with tuition, housing, and parking. Special committees addressed library services, testing in foreign-language classes, and the high cost of textbooks. The council also produced a handbook for graduate students.

On March 29, 1967, the Graduate Student Council passed a new constitution, inspired by a 1966 report by Vice President for Student Affairs Robert Knauss called "The Role of the Student in University Affairs." Seeking a more influential role for students in the "decision-making" of the university, the Graduate Student Council replaced itself with Graduate Assembly. In contrast to the GSC, which gave faculty members the ability to fill vacancies for up to one year, the Graduate Assembly was fully elected by graduate students (though faculty members were still allowed to make one-month appointments).

Graduate Assembly addressed issues similar to those formerly administered by the council, including the perennial concern of student fees. In 1970, the assembly created new regulations for student organizations, which set rules for membership, official recognition, activity planning, publicity, and the use of university facilities.

On March 30, 1971, the Central Student Judiciary, the judicial body of the campus-wide Student Government Council, found the assembly in violation of its own constitution, ruling that it had failed its mission to represent the genuine needs and interests of the graduate community. Meanwhile, elections on March 31, 1971, installed officers for a new Rackham Student Government whose constitution gave them control of Graduate Assembly's funding and facilities. Dismissing Graduate Assembly's claim that the Student Government Council did not have jurisdiction over them, on April 9, 1971, the Central Student Judiciary declared Graduate Assembly dissolved. The newly elected Rackham Student Government (RSG) thereby became the representative body of the graduate community.

Most of the issues addressed by the RSG during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s were the same as those of its predecessors: tuition fees, housing costs, sexual harassment, and representation on committees. Like GA, the RSG provided funding for student organization activities and issued resolutions in response to political issues and events, including the Vietnam War, the Kent State shootings, and apartheid in South Africa. The RSG also spoke out about affirmative action and alleged activities of the Central Intelligence Agency on the University of Michigan campus.

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