We kick off the first day of our last week of newspapers for the semester with a front-page story about another potential tuition increase. The Budget Planning Council recommended to Ohio University President Roderick McDavis that the tuition rate get bumped up 1.5 percent to about $10,535 per year for an Athens campus undergrad. McDavis will probably agree with the BPC, as he usually does, and take the motion to the Board of Trustees for a vote. Normally, the meeting when the trustees vote on tuition takes place before the end of the semester, but this time the board decided to push that meeting back to June and moved it to St. Clairsville. By then, most students will be out of the loop and, most likely, unable to attend.
Although the potential tuition increase only amounts to about $155, it’s still an insidious slight toward a study body that just elected Restart candidates into a majority of next year’s Student Senate seats. Restart stands strongly against any tuition increases, and we probably don’t need to remind you that President-elect Megan Marzec was arrested at last year’s year-end Board of Trustees meeting while protesting a rate hike. (Good thing that won’t be a problem this year with no students around for that meeting, right?)
As Restart advocated throughout its campaign, and our columnist Matt Farmer remarks in the final edition of College Matt-ers, students need to organize if they want to see a change in the status quo. A university culture in which it’s business as usual for trustees to raise tuition by little bits each year is exactly what students just voted to disrupt.
Next year’s senators have their work cut out for them, but it’s not their job to voice opposition alone. Pay attention, participate, stage demonstrations, write letters and make a ruckus to ensure your viewpoint is expressed. We know the year is almost over and everyone has summer on the brain, but don’t let this news pass you by without giving it a second thought. This campus has shown that it cares about students’ rights and is ready for reform. So, now’s the time.
Let’s see it happen.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
