The top eight applicants for the position of Ohio University student trustee participated in a town hall Tuesday. Students submitted questions in person and via social media on issues such as diversity, tuition and accountability.
The position, which is chosen by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, allows two OU students — a junior and a senior student trustee — to serve in a non-voting capacity on the university’s board of trustees for two academic years. The candidates are:
- Sahuaro Marzolf, a sophomore studying international business
- Brendan Hogan, a sophomore studying finance and accounting
- Carlie Tianello, a freshman studying political science
- Zach Reizes, a sophomore studying global studies - war and peace
- Faith Voinovich, a sophomore studying chemical engineering
- Austin McClain, a freshman studying entrepreneurship
- Ami Scherson, a sophomore in the Honors Tutorial College studying music
- Gabrielle Lopez, a sophomore studying pre-medicine
Lopez, who is studying abroad in Thailand, participated via video call.
The issue of student trustee voting rights has been debated several times in the past few years. OU’s Student Senate passed a bill Feb. 15 in support of the voting right.
Despite that, the reaction from the candidates was mixed, with many saying they believed the role of a student trustee was to be a liaison between students and the board and to convey the views gathered from the community.
“I think that there’s a huge learning curve coming in as a student trustee and understanding how everything works,” Voinovich said. “In terms of having an actual vote on the board, I would come on the side of that not being a necessary thing… The role of a student trustee is really to get the board of trustee members to think about issues they may not be so aware of.”
Voinovich is a granddaughter of former U.S. Sen., Ohio Gov. and OU alumnus George Voinovich.
Tianello and Lopez were the only two candidates to support voting rights for trustees fully.
One question submitted by one of the approximately 10 audience members focused on now-former OU trustee Kevin Lake, who pleaded guilty last month to drug, tax and fraud charges and to prescribing illegal prescriptions to hundreds of patients. All eight candidates emphasized the need for transparency within the board and said issues, such as those with Lake, should be made known to the OU community.
“Odds are if you stop the majority of students on the (Baker) escalators, they don’t know what happened to Trustee Lake … What’s much more impactful are the actions of professors and administrators who can directly harm students ” Reizes said, referencing the case of English professor Andrew Escobedo, who sexually harassed female students, according to a report from the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance.
Out of the eight candidates, two — Reizes and Lopez — have previously applied for the position, Courteney Muhl, Student Senate vice president and moderator for the event, said.
By Student Senate’s March 1 meeting, the pool of candidates will be reduced to five. Those individuals will then travel to Columbus on March 3 to be interviewed by members of Kasich’s staff, Jason Pina, vice president for Student Affairs said.
The new student trustee will be announced April 5 at OU’s annual Leadership Gala.
“I think what we really need and have had happen is to have students know all the avenues of recourse they have,” Pina said. “It’s not just an email to a president or not just your senate. You have student trustees who actually go to trustee meetings and speak with trustees.”
