Though Washington, D.C. is 14 years older than Ohio University, one could almost mistake the two areas for twins.
Like D.C., we have our president and our non-voting representatives — the two student trustees chosen by the governor of Ohio, not the students of OU. So as Gov. John Kasich reviews the current five candidates’ applications, we did some reviewing of our own.
Student trustees do not vote. They have no say in Board of Trustees meetings.
Their opinions might be solicited from voting members, but only through voting can their voices truly count.
Without a vote, students are essentially taxed without representation. That very idea is what spurred the 13 colonies to revolt against Great Britain. It is also something Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has been fighting during her 11 terms as D.C.’s member of the House of Representatives. But she, like OU’s student trustees, cannot vote.
Only two of the candidates fully supported student trustee suffrage. Of the remaining three, two were on the fence and one against. Those three must understand the importance of a vote. Without it, they are not the representatives of students.
Outgoing student trustee Kyle Triplett, also RSVP’s presidential candidate for Student Senate, opposed student trustee voting rights because the position creates an obligation to both the university and the student body, a conflict too difficult to reconcile. But the student body is the university. Without students, OU would not exist, so there is not conflict. What is good for the university should be what is good for the students.
On that note, we come to Budget Planning Council. None of the candidates were in outright favor of opening the closed-door financial meetings. But seeing as the budget is the central discussion for the next few years, knowing what BPC recommends to President Roderick McDavis is essential to an informed student body.
A student trustee should not just be a relay for information. The position is not just a stepping-stone for a political career. A student trustee should embody a word embedded in the title — trust between oneself and the students he or she represents.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
