About GAPSA

History
by Joe Friedman, GAPSA Chair 2011-2012

While the origins of the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly (GAPSA) date back to the early 1950s, the modern-day organization was constituted in 1979. In that year, on September 24, the first GAPSA assembly gathered, and shortly thereafter, the Board of Trustees sanctioned the organization’s inauguration in the Statutes of the University, a core body of governing laws.

To this day, along with the Undergraduate Assembly, GAPSA is one of only two student organizations inscribed in the Statutes of the University. Article IX of the document, as most recently amended, states:

While the modern organization represents all Penn graduate students, its mandate was initially less broad. Originally, GAPSA operations were conducted in tandem with those of its sister organization – called the Graduate Student Association Council (GSAC) – which operated on behalf of PhD students.

As student enrollment expanded and the number of graduate schools increased, an initiative emerged which sought to merge GAPSA and GSAC in order to more effectively coordinate and achieve interdisciplinary goals. In 2007, the objective was formally accomplished. A restructuring that year, voted on by all Penn graduate student governments and GAPSA and GSAC, launched a single university-wide graduate student government, coterminous with the single university-wide Undergraduate Assembly.

As the University of Pennsylvania enters its 268th year of existence, it is noteworthy that its university-wide graduate student government has younger, but still firm, roots. Due to its progressive structure, with General Assembly members representing all 12 Penn graduate schools in line with school census numbers, and an annually-elected, 12-member Executive Board that remains committed above all to strengthening Penn camaraderie both on and off campus, GAPSA today believes it has a bright future and strives to serve as a paradigm for student governments nationwide.

Access our General Assembly Minutes Archive to review prior years' work.