Rensselaer Union
 | |
| Also known as | The Union |
|---|---|
| History | |
| Established | 1908 |
| Leaders | |
| Grand Marshal | Jordan Krishnayah |
| President of the Union | Kate Goldstein |
| Director | Charlie Potts |
| Government | |
| Legislature | Student Senate |
| Executive Branch | Executive Board |
| Judicial Branch | Judicial Board |
| Other Branches | Graduate Council (graduate advocacy) Undergraduate Council (undergraduate advocacy) |
| Officers | Officers of the Union |
The Rensselaer Union is a student-run organization formed with the purpose of expanding extracurriculars, coordinating student organizations, and representing student interests. It is governed by the Student Senate, Executive Board, Judicial Board, Undergraduate Council, and Graduate Council, which are established by its Constitution. The Union was founded in 1908 as a merger between the RPI Union and the Rensselaer Student Association, and has gone through numerous changes in structure since its founding.
The Union organizes and oversees over 200 clubs and organizations, many of which it funds; operates the Union building, the Mueller Center, and the RPI Playhouse; and employs a team of full-time staff and many student workers.
In the late 2010s, the Union became the focal point of a protest movement called Save the Union, a reaction to efforts by the presidential administration at that time to diminish the Union's autonomy from the administration, most notably via the hiring of a Director of the Union without student government input.
Precursors
The first known student-organization is the RPI Association, of which little is known beyond the fact that the Grand Marshal served as its head and appointed officers. The first of the organizations that would later become the Rensselaer Union was the RPI Union, founded in 1890. The RPI Union was overseen by a President, an office later to become the President of the Union; the Grand Marshal was later added as an additional officer. The RPI Union managed athletics and hosted social events, most notably semesterly dances, and eschewed student politics. The Rensselaer Student Association, on the other hand, was founded in 1906 to promote school spirit and "establish a true democracy in the student body". Little else is known about its operations.
In 1908, the RPI Union and Rensselaer Student Association merged to form the Rensselaer Union. Despite common belief, the Rensselaer Union was considered as distinct an entity from the RPI Union as it was from the Rensselaer Student Association.