Board of Trustees member Sandra Anderson was quoted in The Post on Oct. 9 saying: “This is a student-centered university.” We disagree. Though the student body makes the largest contribution to the university’s annual budget, we are allowed no role in decisions regarding how our money is spent and how our university is governed.
When passed, Ohio House Bill 377 will require public universities in Ohio to make a decision regarding student trustee voting rights within 90 days. Ohio University’s Board of Trustees will have to decide whether to grant its two student members suffrage. This would be the first step in institutionalizing student power for a more democratic university.
In a truly student-centered university, it is difficult to imagine tuition rising at maximum legal levels year after year. It is difficult to imagine half a million dollars in raises and bonuses being handed over to the ten highest-paid administrators while academic departments struggle. It is difficult to imagine five unanimous Student Senate resolutions for a conflict-free campus failing to result in socially responsible procurement and investment policies.
Already, more than 30 states have granted their student trustees voting rights — and many of those student trustees are elected democratically, rather than appointed by the governor, as in Ohio. Even Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee has come out in support of student trustee voting rights. If the Board of Trustees is serious about a student-centered university, they must support student trustee suffrage.
The Ohio University Student Union meets Thursdays at 8 p.m. in Bentley Hall Room 110.
