In February 2004, over 50 graduate students and administrators from around the Ivy League met at the University of Pennsylvania. On the agenda: understanding such key issues as diversity, campus life, student governance, and academic support from the student perspective. The summit provided students an opportunity to exchange ideas, network with other student leaders in the Ivy League, and bring back practices to implement on their own campuses.

This semester, on October 8 and 9th, Columbia University will host the Ivy Summit. We plan to continue our conversations from February while expanding the discussion to consider the future of graduate education. Through larger meetings and smaller discussion sessions, we will bring students and administrators together to discuss the most important issues facing graduate students: social responsibility; funding; career and professional development; mentoring and interdisciplinary education; graduate student community and life; and graduate student representation and governance. It is our hope that the delegates will take the ideas discussed at Columbia back to their own campuses, and apply some of the outreach strategies suggested by participants.

Member Institutions, The Ivy Summit

• Brown University
• Columbia University
• Cornell University
• Dartmouth University
• Harvard University
• Princeton University
• University of Pennsylvania
• Yale University