Michael Stinziano doesn’t directly represent Ohio’s oldest university, but that didn’t stop him from getting an earful from Ohio University students in his Columbus office Wednesday.
The Ohio representative met with several leading members of OU Student Senate who wanted their voice heard regarding student trustee voting rights.
Stinziano (D-Columbus) and Ohio Representative Mike Duffey (R-Worthington), whom the students also met with, are co-sponsoring House Bill 111, which would make voting rights mandatory for Ohio universities.
Several students made the trip to Ohio’s capital to meet with five legislators — Amrit Saini, vice president of Senate; Evan Ecos, treasurer; Giles Allen, governmental affairs commissioner; Keith Wilbur, governmental affairs vice commissioner and OU’s next student trustee; and Jordan Ballinger, West Green senator.
Wilbur is in favor of student trustee voting rights, while his counterparts, Amanda Roden and Allison Arnold — the latter of whom Wilbur will replace — are not.
OU President Roderick McDavis previously told The Post he did not think student trustees need voting rights.
“When you’re in a non-voting position, for me, I’m much freer to talk about things,” McDavis said in a previous Post article. “When you’re in the privacy of an office … you’re freer to say things.”
But Stinziano said this argument was “confusing.”
“That’s the first time I’ve heard of a president talking differently to voting trustees and non-voting trustees,” Stinziano said. “Personally, I don’t understand that rationale.”
Of the 39 states with student trustees, 32 give them voting rights, Stinziano said.
McDavis also said OU’s administration has not voiced opposition against student trustee voting rights, though Stinziano disagreed.
“It just seemed very clear that OU was vocally against it, and certain (Board of Trustees) members addressed strong questioning of what we were doing in Columbus,” Stinziano said.
Duffey, who leveled the initial accusation against OU’s administration for being against voting rights, could not be reached for comment.
"We did what Senate should be doing in their role as an advocate for students,” Allen said. “We pushed hard on student trustee voting rights. I firmly believe that HB 111 … will be law. What we did today is more effective than any rally or any chant we could have ever done.”
Student Senate has passed a resolution in support of student trustee voting rights for at least the past three years, but the body’s vice president said he thought today’s meetings were very effective in conveying student opinion.
“What we did today had more effect towards making this pass than any resolution we’ve ever passed on student trustee voting rights,” Saini said. “What we did today is what we’re supposed to be doing.”
dd195710@ohiou.edu
