Drew Hudson
Year: Junior
Major: Anthropology with an interdisciplinary certificate in war and peace studies
Hometown: Chicago, IL
Activities: Habitat for Humanity, Student Senate, Anthropology Club, Campus Challenge Course
What do you believe qualifies you the most to serve on the Ohio University Board of Trustees?
This was a question that was actually asked to me during the interview itself and I honestly feel like for anyone who’s read the essays or seen the resumes, as far as people on the actual committee itself, I can talk about service to country, I can talk about my commitment to community service here in Athens, but frankly as far as being qualified for the position itself, any individual student, anyone who’s enrolled as a student here, is qualified for the position. I think that’s what makes going to a state school and a public school important, it’s sort of this democratic process, in the sense that if you’re a student and you have a voice you have the right to be able to express it. So that’s what qualifies me, I think for this position.
Ironically, only 8 people applied for the position itself. So I think what would we best for the position is someone who’s motivated, someone who’s committed and someone who has some level of expertise in dealing with the sort of professional and business sort of aspect of school governance.
What experience do you have, besides being a student, that gives you insight into students’ priorities?
I mean I think if you want to look at it almost even from an anthropological perspective, in the sense that there is a culture associated, sort of a subculture, with being a college student, as is there with being someone in the business arena.
For me, I kind of see the position as almost like a diplomat. So, what I think is going to make a talented student trustee is someone who can communicate the issues of the student body, meaning they understand what it is, the culture of being a college student — what’s important, what are the values, a sort of shared understanding of the world — and likewise, can communicate that to people who are maybe 30 years separated from that experience — who may not necessarily understand what it’s like right here, right now in 2012 to be at Ohio University. I think that is my perspective when approaching the position and I think that is what will make a good student trustee.
Are there any recent Ohio University Board of Trustee decisions that you feel strongly about or that you do not agree with?
Just recently, the Board of Trustees approved a budget that was going to assist us in some development for the school itself, and I honestly feel like — and I think this is something that students sometimes have difficulty wrapping their head around — these individuals are put in place, they have a lot of experience, and their best interest is the university. Maybe not the comfort, necessarily, of the student as it exists right now, but we’re looking at how do you make decisions that are going to positively affect students attending this university now, 10 years from now, 20 years from now, 30 years from now.
The university is almost 300 years in existence now, and so, it’s making decisions with that foresight. And I think these people have the skills to do that. So, in the budgets they approved, it was mainly about working on buildings right now, the infrastructure of the school as it exists, so that we can kind of alleviate any further problems — I’m talking about the actual physical properties of the school: buildings that need to be renovated, talking about the dorms — so I think if those issues aren’t addressed now, they’re only going to exacerbate the problems in the future.
What issues do you think are most important for the Ohio University Board of Trustees to address?
Just a variety of different issues. I was just recently in a Student Senate meeting in which (Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit) came and spoke with us about the raise in tuition costs and that’s really important, I think, for students right now who are trying to understand or budget the expense of getting an education. And so to hear that there’s going to be maybe a 3.5% increase in the amount of tuition that we’ve been paying — that’s very frightening, that’s very difficult for a lot of students to deal with. But I think (Benoit) was very clear and articulate in explaining why it is that we really need to do this, not that we choose to do this — there isn’t any reason why administrative staff are going to try to increase tuition for the sake of doing it, just because they want to make your dorms look pretty.
Issues that are going to affect us are going to be, how do we make this institution appealing to individuals here at Ohio University and across the country, so that we can continue to provide the best education possible.
What is your stance on whether student trustees should or should not be given voting rights?
Personally, I don’t feel like student trustees should be given voting rights, simply for the fact that I don’t think we have the level of distance from the institution needed to make decisions that are going to affect students in the future — 10 years, 20 years, 30 years like I said. I think that our role is to provide a context for the decisions being made.
So, I’m going to bring the agendas, the voice of the students, and try to communicate it in a language that makes sense to them, they understand, and that they take into consideration when they’re making those decisions so that they don’t disrupt the lives of the students as they exist now.
At the same time, it’s too tempting, I think, for a student trustee to make a decision that’s going to immediately affect his surroundings here. So, you know, when you’re talking about tuition costs — I mean, I’m paying (tuition) — I mean that’s going to be an issue in which you’re going to say ‘Well, maybe I don’t want to do that, because it’s going to affect my life as it exists now.’ But I think it’s important that we take into consideration that these decisions are being made with foresight for the future.
In general, what are the main things you would like to accomplish in the student trustee position?
One of the things that I want to impress upon the board is that — obviously, I don’t think you have to tell anyone this, we’re in a very difficult economic time — although it is said that we are sort of slowly coming out of a recession, it’s important that we equip Ohio University students with all the tools to be successful here at the university and then beyond.
I think that we have a serious commitment or a legacy to diversity and to understanding the complexity of the world outside this community, and I think that as society changes, it’s important to redevelop a strategy that’s going to continue that mission. I believe it was 1885, John L. Blackburn was the first African-American (on the) Board of Trustees. I mean that’s almost 100 years before most state institutions were even at a point at which they could admit African-American students. So I think that legacy exists within Ohio University, but as social and cultural issues change in society, it’s important that we continue to develop a curriculum and a method for equipping students with the tools that they’re going to need to be successful in a very diverse and ever-changing world.
