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Syracuse University Student Government Collection

An inventory of the collection at the Syracuse University Archives


Finding aid created by: Dane Flansburgh
Date: October 2019

Historical Note

Shortly after the founding of Syracuse University in 1870, student government bodies started to emerge on its campus. The first recorded student government body was the Student Association of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Fine Arts of Syracuse University, established in 1878. Thereafter, student government bodies that appeared were divided by gender, and the first women's student governing body, the Women's League, was established in 1897. According to an early Women's League report, the object of the league was to "arouse college spirit and to take action as far as possible upon any matters pertaining to women not under the jurisdiction of the faculty." The Women's League was eventually replaced by the Women's Student Governing Association and then the Women's Student Senate. Men student government bodies were also founded, although their history is less documented. In 1907 the Senior Council was founded, made up of men of the senior class. According to their constitution, the council was established "in order to safeguard the customs and traditions of Syracuse University, to form an executive head for the student body and to endeavor to create a closer and more harmonious communism of interests between the students and faculty." In 1944 the Joint Student Government (JSG) was founded, made up of students of both sexes (although governing bodies for each gender continued to exist). The JSG eventually evolved into the Student Government Association (SGA), commonly known as the Student Association (SA) for short. At the end of the spring 2000 semester, the SGA formally changed its name to the Student Association. As of 2023, the SA continues to operate and represent the student body.

Scope and Content Note

The Syracuse University Student Government Collection contains records from various Syracuse University student bodies dating from 1878 until 2000. The collection comprises minutes, correspondence, reports, legislation, petitions, and subject files. The collection is divided into four series.

Campus organization records contains materials related to different organizations on the campus. Records include constitutions, questionnaires, registrations, and newspaper clippings. This material was collected in the 1940s and 1950s by both the Men's Student Government and Women's Student Government so that they had a list of the different organizations offered on the campus. Also included in the series are materials from the Independent Men's Association, Independent Students' Association, and Independent Women's Association. These associations represented students who did not pledge to a fraternity or sorority.

Coeducational government bodies, the largest series in the collection, contains records for government bodies of both men and women. These include Joint Student Government, Joint Student Legislature, and the current Student Association (SA). The series also holds the constitution for the Student Association of the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Fine Arts of Syracuse University, dated with the year 1878, the earliest record of a student body in the collection. The bulk of the series is the records for the Student Government Association (SGA), primarily dating from the mid-1980s through the late 1990s. The SGA addressed matters relating to student affairs, community relations, student life, and technology at Syracuse University. In the course of their work, the SGA confronted issues such as affirmative action, gay rights, internet access, the Pan Am Flight 103 tragedy, race relations, sexual assault, student fees, and tuition hikes.

Men's government bodies contains records from the Senior Council, Men's Student Assembly, Men's Student Civil Service, Men's Student Court, and the Men's Student Government.

Women's government bodies include Women's League, Women's Student Governing Association, Women's Student Senate, Women's Student Government, and the Association of Women Students. Minutes from the Women's League are the earliest documentation from student government meetings in the collection, with the earliest minutes recorded in 1908.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

Please note that the collection is housed off-site, and advance notice is required to allow time to have the materials brought to the Reading Room on campus.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from the Syracuse University Archives and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Approximately half a linear foot of material was removed from this collection and placed in the Graduate Student Organization Records and a few files were transferred to the Syracuse University Student Organizations Reference Collection.

The University Archives holds other collections documenting student life and organizations at Syracuse University, including the Syracuse University Student Organizations Reference Collection and the Syracuse University Student Activities Reference Collection. The clipping files also have information relating to the student government bodies. The Syracuse University Photograph Collection contains photographs of student government bodies.

Selected Search Terms

Names

Syracuse University -- History.
Syracuse University.

Subjects

College student government.
College students.
Gay rights.
Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Incident, 1988.
Student affairs services.
Higher education.

Types of Material

Bylaws (administrative records)
Constitutions.
Correspondence.
Handbooks.
Minutes (administrative records)
Photographs.
Rule books.
Speeches (documents)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Syracuse University Student Government Collection,
University Archives,
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

These materials were donated to the University Archives in 1965, 1972, 2000, and 2022.

Processing Information

This collection was fully processed in September and October 2019 by Dane Flansburgh. Materials were placed in acid-free folders and boxes. Photocopies were made of original newspaper clippings, which were then discarded.

Arrangement

Campus organizations are arranged alphabetically. Government bodies are arranged in chronological order of their establishment (for example, Women's League was the first women's government body, so it appears first in the inventory). Within the government bodies, materials are arranged alphabetically.

Table of Contents

Campus organization records

Coeducational government bodies

Men's government bodies

Women's government bodies

Inventory