The provost may have been right last year, but for all the wrong reasons: Ohio University might be at the breaking point. But it isn’t the fiscal situation that is pushing us to the brink. It is a combination of hostility from the administration, disregard from some of our representatives and apathy from the student body.
The hostility I speak of is the complete refusal to admit that the current balance of power at this university is unjust. Students provide nearly half of the budget but have only three seats on the Budget Planning Council (these seats are filled by the senior Student Trustee and the presidents of Student Senate and Graduate Student Senate). When this concern was voiced, senate was told that this is because of our shared governance model. But I must point out that in a shared governance model, governance is truly shared. Currently, select students are chosen to provide mere feedback. This is not the policy of a university who sees the students as capable of making informed, creative decisions to solve the problems we face.
In addition to this, it has come to light that our student trustees do not want voting rights. Student-trustee voting rights are essential to having the student voice being heard when decisions are being made by the Board of Trustees. But then I found out that our student trustees do not see themselves as the student voice to the board. They claim to represent all constituencies in Ohio. This is, to say the least, troubling. If our student trustees are not even willing to focus on representing student interests to the board, what exactly is their purpose? If they refuse to see themselves as my representative, why should I view them as a resource and an ally?
In short, I cannot. And when we examine the situation closely, we see that students have very few allies on this campus (only interim Vice President Lombardi immediately comes to mind). We are seen as the obstacle to this university’s agenda.
In light of these two factors, the apathy of the student body is unsettling. To my fellow students: We are in a situation where no one else on this campus is willing to fight for our interests. Instead, hostile policies are advanced against the student interest. We must be organized; we must voice our concerns; we must make our voices heard. We cannot count on the administration or our student trustees to help us. Our only choice is to fight for ourselves and for each other.
Jared Henderson is the Academic Affairs Commissioner on Ohio University’s Student Senate.
