We are writing in response to The Post’s April 3 article, “Student trustee vote could be mandatory,” about a possible state law granting student trustees the right to vote. We strongly support the bill and are excited about the possibility of a real voice for students on the Board of Trustees.
We are not alone in supporting the bill. Student Senate supports student trustee voting rights, and even OSU President E. Gordon Gee has spoken out in favor of it. However, in the article, the bill’s Republican cosponsor Mike Duffey went on record to say that OU is one of only two universities holding the state back.
President McDavis’s Chief of Staff Jennifer Kirksey is quoted saying that OU opposes the bill because “We value (the student trustees’) role and want to ensure that their student experience would not be negatively impacted, because with such rights, it would change their role as a student.”
There are plenty of options for students who want a low-stress student experience and to not have their “role as a student” affected. For example, they could not apply to be a student trustee. Student trustees opt in to responsibility by applying for the position.
Astoundingly, the student trustees themselves are perhaps the only students on campus who do not want voting rights. Student trustee Allison Arnold said, “I stand by my belief that student trustees are extremely effective in their current roles.”
Is that why tuition keeps going up and is set to rise again this year? Is that why Ohio is ranked seventh in the nation for student loan debt? Is that why the university is poised to adopt the toxic guaranteed tuition model at the core of which is nothing more than a promise to raise tuition every year?
At the end of the day, students have no representation on the Board of Trustees. Not one single person is fighting for student interests in the governing body that uses students’ money to make decisions about students’ education. It’s obscene.
Is it so unreasonable to ask that student trustees actually represent student interests? We pay 68 percent of the university budget and have zero percent of the vote. Students, the time to demand democracy is now.
The Ohio University Student Union meets Thursdays at 8 p.m. in Baker 231.
