The Student Association’s newest foray into attempting to improve Binghamton University life comes in the form of the Student Group Leadership Council. A once-a-month meeting to which every (well, ideally every) SA-chartered student group sends a representative, the council is intended to encourage discussion and unity between them all.

Yeah, we rolled our eyes a bit too when we first heard the concept, but after a second look, we realized what potential a set-up like this can have for the students of BU.

Whether you want to admit it or not, student groups on their own are often unable to mobilize the BU community at large on issues. Even “popular” events are usually only attended by members of the sponsoring group and perhaps a small cross section of BU’s student life, who either have a friend in the group in question or just happened to be walking by the Glenn G. Bartle Library Tower at the wrong time.

The key to actually accomplishing anything lies in coalition building between groups and unifying under a common banner — just what the Leadership Council gives groups the opportunity to do.

If used correctly (and by “correctly” we mean everyone has to put in a little effort: show up at the meetings and be willing to cooperate), the Leadership Council can be a place of action, a place for groups to get together, combine their voices and work to mobilize their members — and the students as a whole. Similar groups can put their heads together and address issues that affect them all.

Note, though, that this isn’t the kind of body that’s meant to set policy or decide budgets — or have anything whatsoever to do with parliamentary rules and politics. This isn’t the place for the ambitious to maneuver themselves into higher office; it’s a tool for motivation and mobilization.

Here at Pipe Dream, our favorite pastime is to sit around our windowless office and bitch about student apathy (as you, dear loyal reader, are probably well aware). We dream of a BU where not only does President Lois B. DeFleur serve us first-rate dining hall meals while singing selections from “A Chorus Line” and tap dancing, but the students of BU are involved in campus life and unified behind issues they all can find important. The first step toward this BUtopia is the unification of student groups.

Communication between groups is never an easy task, but now there are no excuses left. Fellow student groups: we’ve got an opportunity to build something positive with this Leadership Council and work together, for a change, instead of in spite of one another. We’ve been given a time and a place — all we have to do is show up ready to work.