The United Council of Wisconsin celebrated its 50th anniversary over the weekend, highlighting the milestone with an annual leadership conference attended by a number of Associated Students of Madison representatives.

The annual Building Unity Student Empowerment conference had over 300 registered participants, including 100 UW students and others from nearly all of the UW System schools, UC Executive Director Nicole Juan said.

“Our goal for the conference is to foster an inclusive, effective student movement that recognizes the experiences of all students,” Juan said.

A number of ASM members attended the BUSE conference independently over the weekend.

Legislative Affairs Chair Adam Johnson said the number of students from different UW System schools who participated in the conference and workshops impressed him.

While ASM Chair Tyler Junger did not attend the conference, he has been involved in the movement toward a merger between UC and student governments in the UW System.

After a recent meeting between UC and the other UW System student governments, they sent a letter to the UW System Board of Regents asking for a merger, which if passed, would have all universities in the UW System represented by UC.

There are still many discussions ahead, including necessary structural talks and much more decision making. A merger would require a referendum by the student bodies of the UW System to approve the change, Junger said.

There is no timetable set for a merger, but ASM is in favor of merging to create a unified student voice.

“In its current structure, UC is ineffective and not representative of all students across the UW system. We’re (ASM) looking to change that, and you can bet we’re looking forward to the change in structure,” Junger said.

UC, one of the oldest and largest student associations in the United States, is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that advocates for student rights and educational equity in the UW system.

In the past, UC has worked toward keeping tuition down in the UW System, securing student and regent positions on the Board of Regents and continuing to work toward improving student life today, Juan said.

Most recently, however, UC has been gaining attention through talks of the merger with the Student Representatives, an informal student group that consists of the executive members and chairs of the student governments in the UW System.

After its inception in 1960, UC represented all students in the state of Wisconsin until legislation was passed making it unnecessary for schools to have membership. In 1980, student governments at a number of UW System universities chose to not be members of UC.

Because UC cannot claim to represent all students in the UW System, its funding has since been impacted.

The events this weekend were capped off with a formal gala at the Monona Terrace attended by more than 100 people, including U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., according to a statement from UC.