Students need to write to their state legislators and encourage them to support the proposal that will give student trustees suffrage. Succinctly, this proposal will give all student trustees at Ohio’s public universities a right to vote on their respective boards. Currently, students do not share that right with their non-student counterparts. Please write to your legislator to urge him or her to support the measure.
Below is a list of some state legislators who represent some of Ohio’s larger towns and cities. To find out who your representative is, please visit the Ohio House of Representatives at house.state.oh.us.
Akron – Rep. Vernon Sykes
Athens – Rep. Debbie Phillips
Beavercreek – Rep. Jarrod Martin
Canton – Rep. Steve Slesnick
Cleveland – Rep. Mike Foley
Cincinnati – Rep. Denise Driehaus
Columbus – Rep. Michael Stinziano
Lorain – Rep. Dan Ramos
Kettering – Rep. Jim Butler
Milford/Miami Township – Rep. Joe Uecker
Parma – Rep. Tim DeGeeter
Toledo – Rep. Teresa Fedor
Sandusky – Rep. Dennis Murray
The letters should be written to your state representative because the proposal originated in the Ohio House of Representatives. Eventually, you should write to your state senator as well. Letters need to give your reasons for supporting the proposal, such as giving students equal voices and votes in decisions within Ohio’s boards of trustees.
Finally, the letter should mention the names of the two representatives—one Democrat, one Republican—who have proposed the measure: respectively, Michael Stinziano and Mike Duffey.
Christopher Myers is a senior studying philosophy.
