Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

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The Sfrzdcnt Cmnzril Government. These various projects of the N. F. C. C. S. are realized through the work of its Commissions, which are National and Regional. At Manhattan there is a National Commission on Stu- dent Government and two Regional Com- missions, the Catechist and 'Labor Com- missions. The latter two work in con- junction with the Catechist Society and the Leo Labor Club. The task of the Student Government Commission has been of major import- ance during the past year. Relatively in- active during the last years of the recent war, this Commission has since attained prominence through the drafting' of a Model Constitutionfl available to any college desiring to formulate a Student Council or desiring to give better form to their present Student Government or- ganization. Manhattan College isorepresented in the New York Region of the N. F. C. C. S. by a Senior Delegate, a Junior Delegate and an Afhliate. the first is a bona fide member of the Senior Class, and a re- cently appointed member of the Student Council, while the latter two are repre- sentatives of the Junior and Sophomore Classes, respectively. A method of suc- cessuon has been outlined in an Amend- ment to the Student Council Constitu- tion.

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THE STUDENT COUNCIL HE outstanding and most re- spected Student organization on the Manhattan College campus is conceded by all to be the Student Council. Qrganized in the early years of the College's history, the Council has steadily evolved into an efficient' and representa- tive body of student leaders charged with the responsibility of formulating regu- lations governing the activities of those presently persuing their academic courses. It has likewise been the task of the Council to coordinate the activities of every campus organization and to act as a connecting link beween the students and the faculty administration. Outstanding among the many tasks accomplished by the Council during the past year was the imparting of informa- tion regarding invitations to social affairs at neighboring Colleges for VVomen and the coordination of Tea Dances and Proms held under the aus- pices of Campus organizations. The Council was likewise responsible for sup- ervision at Religious functions and Gen- eral Student gatherings. The Student Council, during the past year, operated under a handicap never before experienced. Withiii a few months, it was required to revert to the original peacetime Council, long absent on the campus, but whose existence was now demanded. The incoming Council members were initially confronted with a hundred percent increase in the student body. Witli the influx of veterans in the mid-year semester, the population on the campus was more than five times that in attendance the year before. This sudden change in student personnel necessitated a drastic revision in the existing Student Council, and through the cooperation and perserverance of its members this revision was completely realized. lt was during the term of office of the past Council that an Amendment was drawn up calling for an addition to the former Council strength of 12 men. The new Councilman is the Senior Delegate to the National Federation of Catholic College Students. W7 ith the formation of this newupeace- time Council now completed, there is a great deal that can be expected from this representative group of Manhattan men. THE NATIONAL FED- ERATION OE CATHOLIC COLLEGE STUDENTS NE of the few organizations on the campus that extends its mem- bership to each and every Man- hattan man is the National Federation of Catholic College Students. The N. F. C. C. S. is a nationwide fed- eration whose chief aim is to establish a bond of unity among the students of all the Catholic colleges throughout the country. To facilitate this work, groups of colleges have been organized into Re- gions, Manhattan is a member of the New York Region. The spirtual and material benefits de- rived from the efforts of the Federation are too numerous to mention in this brief description. However, among the many topics that are investigated by the mem- ber colleges are Catholic Action, Mari- ology, lnterracial Justice, and Student

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The position of the N. F. C. C. S. on the College campus, is of major import- ance. Through the diligent cooperation of its members throughout the nation, a closer bond of unity is steadily being at- tained by all College students under Catholic auspices. THE COMMISSION ON STUDENT GOVERNMENT T a meeting of the National Coun- cil of the N. F. C. C. S. in 1940, Manhattan College was made the seat of the National Commission on Stu- dent Government, a body formed to study the problems of undergraduate adminis- tration of campus activity. At the outset, the work of the Student Government Commission was envisioned as involving three main stages: the com- municative stage, in which the collection of data was the primary ob ject, the class- ification stage, in which student govern- ment data was to be studied and as a result there was to be drawn up a statis- tical report on the important phases of student governmentg the evaluation stage, in which, after another thorough study of the data on hand, a model con- stitution was to be drawn up. Such a constitution was considered the crowning achievement and goal of the Commission. The first two stages of the work were carefully and thoroughly pursued to com- pletion, and work on the model constitu- tion was about to commence when the United States entered the war in 1941. The work of the Commission, suspended indefinitely was not reorganized until late in 1945. Early in 1946 the Commis- sion completed the first draft of the model constitution. Numerous copies of the 'first-draft' model were mailed to col- leges in the N. P. C. C. S. requesting basic information on student government formation and organization. At present the Commission is engaged in the important task of selecting a com- prehensive bibliography on the general theme of student government in colleges. Such a bibliography will supply the need of many colleges in the Federation that are adopting a new or improved plan of student government. The Commission on Student Govern- ment looks forward to 1947 for the com- pletion ot the final draft of the model constitution. In preparation for the final publication of this model Constitution the Commission membership will begin study and evaluation work on the first of May of this semester. Members of the Commission on Stu- dent Government are: John F. Sweeney '46, Chairmang John E. Bach '47, John J. McCarthy '48, and John P. Brosnan '48. Brother Alban, Faculty Adviser for the Commission, has assisted the Com- mission in every phase of its work. His constant interest and cooperation have been greatly appreciated by the member- ship of the National Commission on Stu- dent Government. THE PRESIDENTS' COUNCIL T the beginning of the Academic Year of 1945-46, an entirely new organization was formed at Manhattan College. It was named the Presidents' Council, and its membership consisted of the Presidents of every