Ohio University’s Student Senate approved a resolution Wednesday that supports the student union’s mock Board of Trustees meeting scheduled for Friday.
Student Senate approved a resolution affirming its support for a mock Board of Trustees meeting the Ohio University Student Union plans to hold Friday.
The mock meeting is the result of a conversation between members of the Student Union and administrators in which students asked to be allowed to present a list of demands during the board’s Friday meeting.
Administrators could not promise students that they would advocate for their presentation to be put on the board’s agenda, said Ryan Powers, an East Green senator and member of the Student Union.
“We decided to hold a mock meeting because the Board of Trustees is a sham anyway,” Powers said.
Not all senators agreed with the body’s decision to support the satirical event.
“I don’t think it is OK for us to mock decision-makers on campus,” said Gabby Bacha, a South Green senator. “Any legitimacy you had with administration then vanishes, which doesn’t help students in the long run.”
Powers said the mock board meeting is a political event that senate should take a stance on.
“We were elected to senate because people had political faith in us, so we have to act politically,” he said.
Senate members said they plan to present a petition against the tuition increase to trustee members during the board meeting. That petition has garnered nearly 600 signatures as of Wednesday night.
Senate also voted to include a vote of no confidence to the senate election ballot in April.
The addition would ask students if they feel confident in the ability of top administrators — specifically the president, vice president, dean and provost — to represent students’ needs.
“I feel this opportunity is important given the current university structure and climate,” Powers said. “Students have shown that they want a say in university policy, yet the current structure alienates them from the decision-making process.”
Graduate Student Senate President Carl Edward Smith III was also present at Wednesday’s meeting to speak about two resolutions he hoped would gain the same support in Student Senate as they had in GSS.
One resolution supported public disclosure of the OU Foundation’s endowment investments, and the other supported partial health insurance waivers for graduate assistants.
“Grad assistants are unfortunately just as poor as everyone else,” said Charlotte Bassam-Bowles, a graduate student and university life commissioner.
Both resolutions were also approved by senate.
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