Politics & Government
Various organizations at Yale offer students opportunities to develop and express their political viewpoints. Many students join organizations that focus on a single issue or set of issues, such as Amnesty International, the Beyond War Project, and the Student Environmental Coalition. Others become active in groups like the Yale College Democrats, the Yale College Republicans, or the Yale College Student Union. The largest and oldest student political organization at Yale (and in the U.S.), the Political Union, also sponsors guest speakers and debates. Recent guests have included presidential candidates Ralph Nader, Michael Dukakis, Alan Keyes, and Steven Forbes; Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; Hustler publisher Larry Flynt; talk-show host Jerry Springer; and Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr.
The Yale College Council, Yale's student government, is composed of representatives elected from each residential college as well as a central cabinet elected by the student body as a whole. The council lobbies for improvements to student life, organizes campus-wide activities, and acts as a liaison between the students and the administration of the College. Over the years the council has facilitated the University's response to undergraduate needs and has created a number of committees with responsibility for various issues.
