For the second time this calendar year, Ohio University’s Student Senate passed a resolution supporting voting rights for student trustees. Wednesday’s vote was unanimously in favor of allowing student members to vote at Board of Trustees meetings. We agree with that resolution.
The trustees themselves have said those voting rights are not necessary, because they value the student board members’ input. We don’t discount that feedback, but we feel senate’s resolution signals a problem.
Student Senate is the student body’s only elected representation. If its members feel the student trustees are not adequately able to represent the students, perhaps there is a flaw in the system.
Student trustees, who are appointed by Ohio’s governor, are meant to act as the voice of the students to the rest of the board — the same body that determines much of what happens at OU, including when to raise room, board and tuition and by how much. In the past, student members of the Board of Trustees have said their job can be done without being able to vote.
But taking into account senate’s resolution, which flirts with the notion that the student voice isn’t being heard, one must wonder why the student trustee selection process runs through the governor’s office. If they are a liaison between students and those making decisions about the university, why not let the students select their representation? And if they are going to be treated as trustees, why not let them vote?
In short, a gubernatorial-selected student trustee can represent students with a vote. We have no reason to think otherwise. But if they are not allowed to vote, there is no reason the student trustee selection process should run through Gov. John Kasich’s office rather than being conducted by the students they represent.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors
