Students' Reflections on Ivy Policy Conference

The triumph of the Ivy Conference is not the keynote speakers, not the carefully planned tracks, not even the beauty of Columbia's New York campus: it is the minute interactions between students from different colleges. For this I am intensely grateful. Few other events or organizations could make these interactions possible not just possible, but easy. It could be an intense as a heated debate about the appropriate response to administrative inaction or as sublime as a conversation struck up in an elevator that leads to a lasting friendship--these are the heart of the ivy conference and the reason I'm drawn to eat it each year. The effect of these interactions in aggregate is to get a better perspective on our common problems and to come up with common solutions.

I am extremely thankful for the opportunity I had to be a delegate for the Ivy League Policy Conference at Columbia University this year. As this was my first time attending an Ivy Policy Conference, I was not sure what to expect; however, participating in this event proved to be a fruitful experience. Through the Sustainability Track that the conference organized, I was able to learn about the pressing issues our campuses are currently facing when it comes to resource allocation. Moreover, through open, student-led discussions, we were able to brainstorm feasible policy solutions that delegates could seek to implement at their respective schools. Moreover, we learned about effective ways to present policy solutions to school administrations.

I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to attend the Ivy Policy Conference for the first time this year at Columbia University. Through the IPC, I was able to engage in meaningful discourse regarding campus policies, specifically about sexual violence and response. Though I admit I did not walk into the IPC expecting much productivity in a brief weekend's time, I was thoroughly impressed by the extensive and diverse knowledge base and opinions my fellow policy makers demonstrated. In essence, the IPC was an enlightening experience and a great opportunity to meet and legislate with students from different backgrounds from all over the Ivy League.

I didn’t quite know what to expect going into the conference but was surprised by how productive I was in 24 hours. From the beginning to the end I learned more than I knew I would about issues affecting campus and tools to combat them. I was on the sexual assault awareness and prevention campaign that met with an author that told her story of sexual assault on campus and worked with experts in the field to come up with possible policy initiatives to take back to our prospective schools. Going from learning about sexual assault and its causes to creating policy initiatives was a great way to get involved with the topic and taught me even more about it.

-Submitted by Nico Turk '19, Rockefeller Center Mini Grant Recipient 

The Rockefeller Center's Mini-Grants program funds registration fees for students attending conferences, as well as the costs of bringing guest speakers to Dartmouth. The views and opinions expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Rockefeller Center or constitute an endorsement by the Center.