Lawmakers in Columbus have more than a dozen public universities to cater to; right now, though, Ohio University is heavy on their minds.
Ohio Rep. Mike Duffey (R-Worthington) has demanded OU’s Board of Trustees and President Roderick McDavis take a public stance on whether they support student trustee voting rights by the next board meeting June 21.
“I don’t want this to die because there’s a whisper campaign originating out of OU against it,” Duffey said.
If OU does express support for student trustee voting rights, Duffey said the legislators’ focus will shift to other universities. If not, though, he and Ohio Rep. Michael Stinziano (D-Columbus) could come to Athens to continue lobbying administrators for support.
Jennifer Kirksey, chief of staff to McDavis, and Peter Mather, secretary to the Board of Trustees, could not be reached for comment by press time.
Duffey and Stinziano, are sponsoring HB 111, which would make student trustee voting rights mandatory at all public Ohio universities.
Duffey and Stinziano were co-sponsors of HB 377 in the previous General Assembly. It originally would have made student trustee voting rights mandatory, but Duffey said this proposal sparked opposition from OU and Bowling Green State University.
A revised HB 377 — which never made it to the Senate floor — would only have made student trustee voting rights optional for universities.
Both legislators said they believe OU was instrumental in keeping HB 377 from passing. McDavis has previously denied that accusation.
However, legislators said they believe members of OU’s Board of Trustees have lobbied against the bill despite not taking a public stance on the topic.
“Sometimes when we talk to officials from OU, we get the message that, ‘We’ve never said we’re formally opposed to it’ — so we want them to make a decision,” Duffey said. “I expect them to be against it. We have reliable second-hand information that OU is opposed to this.”
Several members of OU Student Senate met with Duffey, Stinziano and other Ohio lawmakers Wednesday to express their support for voting rights. Amrit Saini, vice president of Student Senate, said he’d be surprised if OU took a stance but predicted that any stance the university took would be negative.
“If (OU’s opposition) is enough to change the old bill from mandatory to permissive, I would say OU has a significant amount of influence,” he added.
Giles Allen, Student Senate’s governmental affairs commissioner, said he does not believe OU will take a position on the bill.
“I see OU saying, ‘We aren’t for or against the bill, but if HB 111 becomes law, we will abide by it,’ ”Allen said. “It’s time they stop (privately lobbying) this bill. … If they’re against it, they should come out and say it.”
A stance against the bill would align OU against top state officials, Stinziano said.
“I have gotten a clear indication that (the governor) not only supports the legislation, but he supports it as mandatory and not permissive,” he said. “It just seemed very clear that OU was vocally against it, and certain board members addressed strong questioning of what we were doing in Columbus.
“The movement for voting rights across the entire state of Ohio starts with Ohio University,” Duffey said.
dd195710@ohiou.edu
