urn:taro:smu.00033 Southern Methodist University Student Senate minutes and records A Guide to the Collection Finding aid prepared by Todd Baty, 2005-2007. DeGolyer Library
P. O. Box 750396 Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275-0396
Finding aid encoded by Lara Corazalla, 2007. Finding aid written in English. Description based on DACS. Overview Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University. Student Senate. Southern Methodist University Student Senate minutes and records 1922-1983, 2000-2001 4 boxes (4 linear feet) Student government organizations at Southern Methodist University have operated under multiple constitutions, and several names including: Student Council, Student Caucus, Council of the Student's Association, and finally the SMU Student Senate. Business conducted by the SMU Student Senate has varied from year to year as well and has incorporated everything from appropriating funds for student organizations, to hosting pep rallies for football games, to advocating different academic university policies. This collection contains the minutes of SMU Student Senate meetings, including meeting agendas, committee reports, financial appropriation bills, constitutions, and other documents pertaining to the student representative body of SMU. SMU 2006.0373 Material is in English. Historical Note

From its first class, Southern Methodist University students have elected their peers to represent them to the faculty and administration. The Senate has operated under multiple constitutions and several names, including: Student Council, Student Caucus, Council of the Student's Association, and finally the SMU Student Senate.

The Student Council began shortly after SMU opened its doors in 1915. The first president was Umphrey Lee, who later was elected the fourth President of SMU. In the early days, students voted for the usual positions of president, secretary and representatives, but they also voted for cheerleaders (until the 1970s) and editor of the student newspaper and Rotunda (until the 1960s).

During the Depression, the Student Council twice voted to lower student activity fees and also used its voice to try to change policies to allow student dances to be held on campus. SMU held its first on-campus dance in 1940. During World War II, the Student Council raised $6,900 for War Bonds.

The most notable changes to student governance and, in fact, all campus governance took place in 1970 with the creation of the University Assembly with faculty, student and administrative representatives. The University Assembly recommended student activity fees, planned university convocations, and established safety and security rules. During the 1970s, the Student Senate fought for continued shared governance through various petitions to the University President and Board of Trustees—especially concerning the forced resignation of University President Hardin in 1974.

From the 1980s until 2007, the Student Senate has

• Created a standing committee for Faculty evaluations

• Established the student Senate Scholarship Endowment Fund

• Voted to fund campus-wide call boxes and established a fund for taxi service

• Established a formal liaison between the Student Senate and the board of Governors

• Debated fervently over the recognition of GLSSO (Gay/Lesbian Student Support Organization) and after several years voted to give recognition to this group

• Established recycling programs

• Proposed and funded Three Weeks for Relief campaign assisting students displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

According to its website in 2007, the SMU Student Senate initiates action on student concerns, adopts the Student Code of Conduct, provides student scholarships, and is responsible for the appropriation of funds to student organizations.

 Scope and Contents of the Collection

This collection includes a fairly comprehensive run of Student Senate meeting minutes from 1938-1983, with sporadic records from 1922-1938. The collection also contains minutes and documents from the 2000-2001 school year. Minutes for Student Senate meetings are included for most years, but not all. Minutes are generally taken by the Student Body Secretary, who is elected each spring for the following school year.

Other series in this collection include some, but not all, constitutions.

 Arrangement of the Collection

The collection is organized into 4 series:

Series 1: Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1922-1927 Series 2: Student Senate Minutes, 1922-1983, 2000-2001 Series 3: Constitutions and other election materials Series 4: Administrative Files, 1973-1984 Access to Collection:

Collection is open for research use.

 Publication Rights:

Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Director of the DeGolyer Library.

 Copyright Statement:

It is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright authorization.

 Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following terms in the Southern Methodist University Libraries' online catalog. Researchers desiring related materials may search the catalog using these terms.

Southern Methodist University. Student Senate. Southern Methodist Universities--Administration. Southern Methodist Universities--Students. College student government--Texas--Dallas. Universities and colleges--United States--Texas--Administration. Student-administrator relationships--Texas--Dallas. Southern Methodist University. Student Council. Southern Methodist University. Student Caucus. Southern Methodist University. Student's Association. Council. Preferred Citation

Southern Methodist University Student Senate minutes and records, Southern Methodist University Archives, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University.

 Acquisition Information

Deposit.

 Processing Information

Materials were found in several boxes in rough order. Most were labeled. Records were sorted, re-foldered and paper clips were removed.

 Processed by

Todd Baty, 2005-2007.

 Encoded by

Lara Corazalla, 2007.

 Detailed Description of the Collection Series 1: Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1922-1927 1 box

11Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1922-1923 12Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1923-1924 13Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1924-1925 14Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1925-1926 15Appropriations Committee/Budget Requests, 1926-1927 Series 2: Student Senate Minutes, 1922-1983, 2000-2001 3 boxes

16Student Senate Minutes and Records, 1938-1943 17Student Senate Minutes and Records, 1945-1950 18Student Senate Minutes, 1950-1951 19Student Senate Minutes, 1954-1955 110Student Senate Minutes, 1955-1956 111Student Senate Minutes, 1956-1957 112Student Senate Minutes, 1957-1958 113Other accompanying Documents, 1957-1958 114Student Senate Minutes, 1958-1959 115Student Senate Minutes, 1959-1960 116Other accompanying Documents, 1959-1960 117Student Senate Minutes, 1960-1961 118Other accompanying Documents, 1960-1961 119Student Senate Minutes, 1961-1962 120Other accompanying Documents, 1961-1962 121Student Senate Minutes, 1962-1963 122Other accompanying Documents, 1962-1963 123Student Senate Minutes, 1963-1964 124Other accompanying Documents, 1963-1964 125Student Senate Minutes, 1964-1965 126Other accompanying Documents, 1964-1965 127Student Senate Minutes, 1965-1966 128Student Senate Minutes, 1966-1967 129Other accompanying Documents, 1966-1967 130Student Senate Minutes, 1967-1968 131Other accompanying Documents, 1967-1968 132Student Senate Minutes, 1968-1969 133Other accompanying Documents, 1968-1969 134Student Senate Minutes, 1969-1970 135Other accompanying Documents, 1969-1970 136Student Caucus Minutes, 1970-1971 137Other accompanying Documents, 1970-1971 21Student Senate Minutes, 1971-1972 22Extra Copies 1971-1972 23Addresses of Organizations, 1971-1972 24Other Documents, 1971-1972 25Student Senate Correspondence, 1971-1972 26Student Senate Minutes, 1972-1973 27Other accompanying Documents, 1972-1973 28Student Senate Minutes, 1973-1974 29Other accompanying Documents, 1973-1974 210Legislation, 1973-1974 211Student Senate Minutes, 1974-1975 212Legislation, 1974-1975 213Legislation (Duplicates), 1974-1975 214Academic Council, 1974-1975 215Other accompanying Documents, 1974-1975 216Screening Committee, 1974-1975 217Shared Governance, 1974-1975 218Student Senate Minutes (Duplicates), 1974-1975 219Student Senate Minutes, 1975-1976 220Other accompanying Documents, 1975-1976 221Other accompanying Documents (2), 1975-1976 222Rathskeller, 1976 223Student Senate Minutes, 1976-1977 224Student Senate Minutes, 1977-1978 225Student Senate Executive Committee Minutes, 1977-1978 226Other accompanying Documents, 1977-1978 31Student Senate Minutes, 1978-1979 32Student Senate Newsletter, 1978-1979 33Student Senate Manual, 1978-1979 34Student Senate Executive Committee Minutes, 1978-1979 35Other accompanying Documents, 1978-1979 36Student Senate Minutes, 1979-1980 37Student Senate Executive Committee Minutes, 1979-1980 38Other accompanying Documents, 1979-1980 39Student Senate Minutes, 1980-1981 310Student Senate Minutes (2), 1980-1981 311Student Senate Executive Committee Minutes, 1980-1981 312Communications Committee, 1980-1981 313Other accompanying Documents, 1980-1981 314Student Senate Minutes, 1981-1982 315Student Senate Executive Committee Minutes, 1981-1982 316Other accompanying Documents, 1981-1982 317Student Senate Minutes, 1982-1983 318Student Senate Executive Committee Minutes, 1982-1983 319Student Endowment Foundation, 1982-1983 320Other accompanying Documents, 1982-1983 321Student Senate Minutes, 2000-2001 322Other accompanying Documents, 2000-2001 Series 3: Constitutions and other election materials 1 box

323SMU Pennant, 1915-1916 324Early Alma Mater 325Original Copy of the First Student Association’s Constitution 326Speeches of Frank White, Student Body President 1999-2000 327SMU Student Senate Brochures 328Student Senate Election Flyers 329Miscellaneous 330Student Senate Constitutions (1) 331Student Senate Constitutions (2) 332Student Senate Constitutions (3) 333Other Constitution Documents 334Constitution Miscellaneous 335Student Senate Executive Committee (Misc.) 336Academic Task Forces (Misc.) 337Freshman Council, 1980-1981 338Student Life Leadership Council, 1981-1983 339Resident Council By-laws 340Honor Council 341Phillip Wise, Student Body President 1980-1981 342Student Senate Retreats, 1975-1983 Series 4: Administrative Files, 1973-1984 2 boxes

343Administrative Files - Elections Committee 344Administrative Files - Student Organizations Committee (1) 345Administrative Files - Student Organizations Committee (2) 346Administrative Files - Student Organizations Committee (3) 347Administrative Files - Student Code Committee (1974-1980) (1) 348Administrative Files - Student Code Committee (1974-1980) (2) 349Administrative Files - Student Code Committee (1974-1980) (3) 41Administrative Files - Elections Committee, 1968-1979 42Administrative Files - Student Senate Members 43Administrative Files - Student Senate Governing Board 44Administrative Files - General Information, (1973?-1983?) (1) 45Administrative Files - General Information, (1973?-1983?) (2) 46Administrative Files - Student Activity Center 47Administrative Files - Student Senate Committees, 1974-1981 48Administrative Files - Student Senate Goals/Philosophy, 1978-1983 49Administrative Files - Minority Committee 410Administrative Files - Internal Affairs Committee, 1973-1982 411Administrative Files - Faculty Evaluation Committee 412Administrative Files - Student Handbook Committee, 1973-1980 413Administrative Files - Student Senate Annual Reports, 1978-1982 414Miscellaneous newspaper clippings about the SMU Student Senate (1) 415Miscellaneous newspaper clippings about the SMU Student Senate (2) 416Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1971-1972 417Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1973-1974 418Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1974-1975 419Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1975-1976 420Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1976-1977 421Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1977-1978 422Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1978-1979 423Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1979-1980 424Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1980-1981 425Appropriations Committee/Finance Board, 1982-1983