IVY COUNCIL
Ivy council
Our vision
The Ivy Council serves as a platform for student leaders to represent students voices within the Ivy League and create positive change.
Who are we?
The Ivy Council is a 501(c)3 federal tax-exempt organization of student government leaders, student organization leaders, and students at large from the colleges and universities of the Ivy League. The Ivy Council was established in 1993 by members of the Ivy League student governments in order to facilitate effective communication between the student governments of their respective institutions and to provide a unified voice for the Ivy League student governments.
today
Since its inaugural year, the Ivy Council has expanded the scope of its activity both nationally and internationally with programs such as the Ivy Leadership Summit and student-exchange opportunities in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
ivy council PROGRAMS
From the annual Ivy Leadership Summit to the Ivy publication, Ivy Inspire.
National Student Leadership
The Ivy Leadership Summit (ILS) is an annual two-day conference hosted by the Ivy Council to bring together students from the eight Ivy League universities along with leaders from the business, government, academics, and non-profit sectors of society. The conference is usually held in the fall and its location is rotated each year through the campuses of the schools in the Ivy League.
Click here to see photos from the 2017 Ivy Leadership Summit, hosted at Princeton University!
Collegiate Policy Change
The Ivy Policy Conference (IPC) is an annual conference hosted every spring by the Ivy Council. IPC emphasizes in-depth, candid conversation on public policy solutions to the social, intellectual, political, and cultural issues facing today’s college students. Ivy League schools take turns hosting IPC on their respective campuses.
Click below to read the policy reports from the past 4 conferences!
Global Partnerships
Ivy-China, Ivy-Russia, Ivy-Middle East, Nobel Peace Laureates World Summit, United Nations Youth Assembly
In May-June 2008, then-President Bing Chen (Penn '09) and then-VP External Affairs Sue Yang (Columbia '10) facilitated two dozen student government Presidents and student journalists to travel to Beijing, Wuhan, and Shanghai for the first Ivy League student delegation through mainland China.[3] The American students held a dialogue with their Chinese peers on international student relations at Peking University, and met with Chinese leaders.[4] The American students held a dialogue with their Chinese peers on international student relations at Peking University, and met with Chinese leaders.[4] Currently, the Ivy-China program is in its seventh year, and has brought a delegation of 8 Chinese students from the top universities in China, who visited the Ivy League Universities and continued with the goal of international cultural exchange. The program has also seen expansions to Europe and the Middle East.
Ivy Russia Exchange
Ivy Council has had several partnerships with the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Russia. Moreover, beginning 2018, under then-President Elizabeth Ulanova (Columbia '19) and President Emeritus Daniel Wilson (Princeton '18), Ivy Council sent its first ever IVC delegation to attend the presitigous Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok with heads of state from around the world.
Inter-Ivy Council Retreats
School to School Exchange
Beginning 2018, under then-President Elizabeth Ulanova (Columbia '19), the first annual Ivy Council Executive Board Retreat was established as a weekend retreat in New York City for the incoming national board to congregate in-person at the beginning of each new school year. This retreat consists of the traditional "lock-in" meeting as well as the location of the annual stole ceremony - where new IVC e-board inductees are formally welcomed with a Ivy Council graduation stole to wear at their future college graduation.
IvyInspire
Ivy Inspire, Ivy Council National Newsletters, Ivy Council Local Newsletters
From the first inter-ivy online magazine to weekly local newsletters from each IVC school.
Click here to access Ivy Inspire!
IvyCORPS
International Philanthropy
The IvyCORPS (Ivy Community Outreach and Public Service) is the philanthropy arm of the Ivy Council--a student union group of the Ivy League.
Click here to access Ivy Corps!
IVY COUNCIL NEWS
Recent updates from the Ivy Council's own publication, the Ivy Inspire.
Southern Souls in Ivy Towers
"When considering the geographic origins of Ivy League students, many think Greenwich, Andover, or New York City. When I tell people that I’m from Alabama...
“There is a finite limit to how far we can look into the past. The universe is expanding faster and faster the farther you look back in time; most of the light...
Meet THE Ivy council EXECUTIVE BOARD
The IVC Executive Board runs the day-to-day national operations of Ivy Council and are elected by members from all 8 Ivy League schools.
Elizabeth Ulanova
President Emeritus
Columbia University
IVC Executive Board
Sebastian Contreras
Vice President of Finance
University of Pennsylvania
IVC Executive Board
Evan Batov
Editor in Chief - Ivy Inspire
University of Pennsylvania
IVC Executive Board
Meet THE ivy council board of governors and trustees
In addition to the Executive Board for day-to-day operations, an appointed Board of Governors and Trustees are also present for fiscal management and long-term sustenance of the organization. This was re-instated and formed in 2018.
Meet THE ivy conference executive directors
The executive directors oversee their respective IVC conferences throughout the academic year.
Sarah
Chong
Executive Director
Dartmouth College
ILS Fall 2018
Meet THE ivy council STEERING BOARD
The Steering Board are composed of head delegates that are elected by their local IVC chapter to represent their respective schools. Due to impending head delegate elections, more would be added in the weeks to come!
Michael Lee
Head Delegate
Yale University
IVC Steering Board
Luis Bravo
Head Delegate
University of Pennsylvania
IVC Steering Board
ivy council Social Feed
Check out our latest updates!
history of ivy council
Founded in 1993 as a way to collaborate and exchange ideas on common student life issues at their respective school, student government leaders set the stage for the Ivy Council that exists today. In 1997, in response to the complexities of running a loose federation of organizations over seven states, a defining structure was created. The Ivy Council draws its membership from the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students, Columbia University (the Columbia College Student Council, the Columbia Engineering Student Council, and the Columbia General Studies Student Council), the Cornell University Student Assembly, the Dartmouth College Student Assembly, the Harvard University Undergraduate Council, the University of Pennsylvania Undergraduate Assembly, the Princeton University Undergraduate Student Government, and the Yale College Council.[2]
The Ivy Council is not a party to, nor is it in any way adjunct to, the Ivy Group Agreement of 1954. The Ivy Council is in no way adjunct to the council of college and university Presidents known as the Council of Ivy Group Presidents. The positions taken and statements made by the Ivy Council are only representative of the undergraduate students of the eight Ivy League schools. They are not in any way taken nor made on behalf of the Ivy League itself, nor its member institutions themselves as distinct corporate entities.
Timeline of ivy council
Check us out through the years - more to be coming soon!
Creation of Ivy Council
1993
Founded in 1993 as a way to collaborate and exchange ideas on common student life issues at their respective school, student government leaders set the stage for the Ivy Council that exists today. In 1997, in response to the complexities of running a loose federation of organizations over seven states, a defining structure was created.
The Ivy Council draws its membership from the Brown University Undergraduate Council of Students, Columbia University (the Columbia College Student Council, the Columbia Engineering Student Council, and the Columbia General Studies Student Council), the Cornell University Student Assembly, the Dartmouth College Student Assembly, the Harvard University Undergraduate Council, the University of Pennsylvania Undergraduate Assembly, the Princeton University Undergraduate Student Government, and the Yale College Council.
Creation of the first ever ILS
2000
ILS was originally created to promote the exchange of ideas between students of the Ivy League and today’s leaders on subjects of public policy such as affirmative action and ethics in science and technology. The first ILS was held at Yale University in 2000 and had the topic of “Integrity and Ethics.” Eighty participants were selected from a pool of applicants throughout the Ivy League.
The main activities of the conference were keynote speakers, panels, and roundtable discussions. Since then, Ivy Council has held six conferences each with their own topics of discussion. Past speakers have included Steve Forbes, Chairman and CEO of Forbes magazine; Nasreen Berwari, Iraqi Minister of Municipalities and General Works; Jeffrey Sachs, special adviser to the UN’s Millennium Development; Theodore Roosevelt IV, Managing Director at Lehman Brothers and prominent environmentalist; and Dov Zakheim, US Undersecretary of Defense.
Creation of the first ever IPC
2008
Ivy Policy Conference (IPC) is an annual conference hosted every spring by the Ivy Council. IPC emphasizes in-depth, candid conversation on public policy solutions to the social, intellectual, political, and cultural issues facing today’s college students. Ivy League schools take turns hosting IPC on their respective campuses.
Creation of the first international partnership of Ivy Council with China
2008
In May-June 2008, then-President Bing Chen (Penn '09) and then-VP External Affairs Sue Yang (Columbia '10) facilitated two dozen student government Presidents and student journalists to travel to Beijing, Wuhan, and Shanghai for the first Ivy League student delegation through mainland China.[3]
The American students held a dialogue with their Chinese peers on international student relations at Peking University, and met with Chinese leaders.[4] Currently, the Ivy-China program is in its seventh year, and has brought a delegation of 8 Chinese students from the top universities in China, who visited the Ivy League Universities and continued with the goal of international cultural exchange. The program has also seen expansions to Europe and the Middle East.
Expansion of Ivy Council events in other countries
2008
In the 7th year of Ivy Council with China, Ivy Council brought a delegation of 8 Chinese students from the top universities in China, who visited the Ivy League universities and continued with the goal of international exchange. As a result, the program has seen expansions to Europe and the Middle East.
Expansion of IvyCORPS
2018
The IvyCORPS (Ivy Community Outreach and Public Service) is the philanthropy arm of the Ivy Council - a student union group of the Ivy League. This year, the Cornell Ivy Council chapter is launching a series of community service events through the summer of 2018 in Manhattan, New York.
Timeline of Presidents
Check us out through the years - more to be coming soon!
95-96
President
1995-1996
Travis Seegmiller (Yale University)
96-97
President
1996-1997
Meredith Epstein
(Dartmouth College)
97-98
President
1997-1998
Brian Gaither
(Cornell University)
98-99
President
1998-1999
Scott Jacobs
(Dartmouth College)
00-01
President
2000-2001
Matthew Ebbel
(Harvard University)
01-02 President
2001-2002
Michael Brown (Cornell University)
03-04 President
2003-2004
Alex Cosmas (Columbia University)
04-05 President
2004-2005
Jenn Choi
05-06 President
2005-2006
Michelle Fernandes (Cornell University)
06-07 President
2006-2007
Jennifer Mickel (Princeton University)
07-08 President
2007-2008
Sunshine Yin (Princeton University)
08-09 President
2008-2009
Bing Chen (University of Pennsylvania)
10-11 President
2010-2011
Harris Li (Brown University)
11-12 President
2011-2012
Kathy Bui (Brown University)
12-13 President
2012-2013
Nicholas Judson (Dartmouth College)
13-14 President
2013-2014
Arvin Ahmadi (Columbia University)
14-15 President
2014-2015
Jessica Barragan
(Cornell University)
15-16 President
2015-2016
Paarth Sarth (Princeton University)
16-17 President
2016-2017
Hugo Yen (Harvard University)
Hugo was then followed by
Lelina Chang (Yale University)
17-18 Co-Presidents
2017-2018
Danny Wilson (Princeton University) & Tayyaba Arshad (Cornell University)
18-19 President
2018-2019
Elizabeth Ulanova (Columbia University)
President & President Emeritus
Ivy COuncil conferences
The Ivy Council hosts semi-annual conferences where student leaders gather to research and seek solutions to issues of the day at their schools, across the Ivy League, or to student populations as a whole. Recent issue topics have included affirmative action in admissions, post-season football, the drug-free provisions in higher education legislation, climate neutrality and fuel emissions. Ivy Council Conferences are important learning experiences for everyone who attends. Each gets to enjoy the vastly different physical environments of the host schools, while taking from the depth of expertise that is shared among participants.
Delegates and observers arrive at the Conference site on Friday night. A grand gathering takes place at the opening. The weekend that follows provides more formalized events that encourage the sharing of ideas, while providing social events to help build lasting relationships. On Saturday, the attendees get down to business, spending many hours in discussion sections. Topics are determined in advance by the Steering Committee; past topics have covered a wide range of issues facing higher education, including academic affairs, alcohol use and abuse and socially aware university investment and divestment. Each school comes prepared with researched information about how each issue is addressed on its campus. All benefit from hearing other perspectives and new ideas; solutions are developed as a result. Session minutes are combined with that background information and a conference booklet is created and distributed to each delegation. This provides each student government with a tool for further addressing the issues discussed. Moreover, Conference materials are posted online in the Student Government Forum and Policy Database to encourage further discussion and archived information sharing. Such documents are accessible to all Ivy League students, not just Ivy student government leaders and members.
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CONTACT US
Send us a note any time—but please keep in mind that the Ivy Council is run by full-time students.
We will get back to you as soon as possible.
©Elizabeth Ulanova 2017