The campus’s Intercultural Awareness Committee was absorbed Monday into the Student Group Council — even though ICA members had unanimously opted against it in an opinion vote last semester.

The Student Assembly passed the amendment which moved the once-independent committee into the council. The amendment, which was initiated by Financial Vice President Chris Powell last semester, required a two-thirds majority.

Now considered to be a council within the SGC — a board dedicated to both fostering greater communication between student groups of like interests and enhancing the general spread of knowledge between those groups — the ICA’s bylaws have now been transferred to fall under the former.

The shift in the jurisdiction over the committee comes less than two weeks after a conflict involving Powell and Vice President for Multicultural Affairs David Redbord, who acts as chair of the ICA, over the pursual of a program by Redbord against appeals from other SA members, according to Powell.

The conflict was resolved after Powell threatened to bring Redbord in front of a committee to review his actions.

According to Powell, the cultural organizations on campus “tend to be the most successful,” and the move would allow in part for ICA members to share their practices with other groups, especially those that may be “struggling.”

“My idea was that this move would allow more information-sharing between cultrual groups and other student groups,” Powell said.

But according to Redbord, the shift may clash with some of the group’s goals, like remaining a voice for minorities.

“I thought that moving the ICA under the SGC will greatly hinder the voice of the cultural groups,” Redbord said. “Many of the cultural groups were founded based on the idea that they were a minority voice, and that that voice needed a forum for safety in which to voice its concern.”

Redbord added that “the ICA was a forum for all those cultural groups to come together and voice their common concerns and do something about them.”

Hillside Student Assembly representative Karen Galan agreed with Powell’s argument, but spoke out against the decision during Monday’s meeting with the hopes of accurately representing the interests of ICA members.

The change deepens an already present divide between SA members and the rest of the student body, according to Galan.

“So many people talk negatively about the SA, so why separate ourself more and more from [the student body]?” she added.

Both Galan and Redbord said during the meeting that members of the committee were not present at the vote because of scheduling difficulties, including postponement and cancellations carrying over from last semester.

SA President David Bass said he feels the decision ultimately will negatively affect the organization.

“I think primarily it hurts the cultural organizations,” Bass said. ”More than anything, the cultural organizations that looked to the ICA for both a sounding board for their ideas and an organizational body away from that neutralizing bureaucracy of the SA, that’s what dies here.”

Although Bass said one of his biggest concerns is the fact that the independence of the organization is now “gone,” he added that the change does not affect the actual “functionality” of the ICA, a thought echoed by SA executive vice president, Joe Danko, who acts as chair of the SGC.

“Honestly, ICA members should not worry about any major changes,” Danko said. “All we did was make them a part of the SGC, which will give them a chance to speak to all the other student groups monthly … I am fully aware that the ICA is a strong functioning body and I will not step on their toes in any way.”