Members of the constitutional review committee exchanged ideas and provided suggestions for the structure of a new student government formed as a compromise between GUSA and supporters of the Yard Student Association in the committee’s first working meeting Wednesday evening.

“[After Monday’s meeting] we saw that we had two broad headings that had to be addressed,” co-chair of the committee Jamal Epps (COL ’01) said. “The first was structure and representation, and the second was funding.”

According to Epps, Wednesday’s meeting focused on the structural aspects of reform and acted as a brainstorming session during which members had the opportunity to compare Georgetown’s present system of government with the ideal legislative body for the university.

While no definite decisions were made Wednesday evening, committee co-chair Rob Bauer (COL ’02) said that the open nature of the discussion moved the committee in the right direction.

“We came up with a solid working structure [for the committee’s work],” he said.

The review committee, formed by GUSA president Tawan Davis (COL ’01) with the aim of revising the present constitution, is composed of three supporters of the proposed Yard Student Association and three GUSA representatives. A faculty adviser, representatives from several clubs, academic councils and InterHall hold positions on the committee as well. Twelve of the committee’s 14 members attended Wednesday’s meeting.

According to Davis’ executive recommendation, the committee will present its final product to the university community on March 15. The student body would then vote on the new constitution in a referendum on March 29.

“We have a very short time frame to work with so we really have to throw ourselves into this,” Epps said of the limited period that the committee has to create the constitution. Members are presently planning to hold no less than five meetings before the proposed March 15 report date.

According to Bauer, it is very likely that the committee will meet several additional times to ensure the creation of the best document possible.

“[This new document] will take the best of GUSA, the Yard and all the other student governments that we’re looking at,” Bauer said.

Despite the limited amount of working time, Epps said he is similarly optimistic about the process.

“Everyone seems positive about the committee and about the possibility of producing a strong document that we can all get behind,” he said.

Jack Ternan (COL ’04), who helped draft the Yard Student Association’s proposed constitution, shared Epps’ enthusiastic attitude.

“Hopefully we will come up with the best structure for the student government in keeping with Georgetown’s commitment to excellence and its Jesuit tradition,” Ternan said.

According to the co-chairs, members will be prepared with their own structural ideas for the new student government at the committee’s next meeting Saturday evening. The first of at least two forums open to the campus community will take place on Sunday from 5p.m. to 7 p.m. Both locations are to be announced.