Union of Student Organizations
The Union of Student Organizations (USO) was a student organization governing board founded in Spring 1993 through the merger of the Student Union Polity and the Joint Budgetary and Calendaring Committee of the CCSC and ESC.[1] It was treated as a sub-committee of CCSC and ESC.
Within three years the organization was being accused of micro-managing student organization expenditures, generating a profit for itself by seizing unspent group allocations, giving itself disciplinary power over student groups, and operating as a black box with little transparency.[2]
The issues with USO came to a head in spring of 1998, when the entire USO board resigned en masse in protest over the student councils calling the head of USO and threatening him with impeachment.[3] The following fall the Interim Governing Body was established in order to draw up a constitution for a new funding board.[4] Their efforts would culminate with the establishment of the Activities Board at Columbia (ABC) later that semester.[5]
