Last year, Ohio University Student Senate executive leaders approved $1,600 from their budget to pay one of their own to rebuild the organization’s website.
The decision to pay former Vice President Amrit Saini was made with approval from former Treasurer Evan Ecos, a good personal friend of Saini’s, and the Division of Student Affairs.
The full senate body apparently wasn’t even made aware of the payment, much less given the opportunity to weigh in.
Student Senate is the organization on campus called to work directly with the university’s administrators and to act as a way for the student body to get a behind-the-scenes look into the inner workings of the university.
Last year, senate officials called on Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit and Vice President of Finance and Administration Stephen Golding to publicly explain why tuition hikes were again on the table.
The Post applauded senate’s demand for transparency and open communication.
Now, we admonish the former leaders for not practicing in private what they proclaimed publicly.
Officials using their power for their own gain is a problem: Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is in prison for using his office to enrich himself and a contractor friend.
The sum paid to Saini is by no means astronomical, but it deserved the chance to be openly debated.
Perhaps then someone would have questioned whether the senate’s vice president should be compensated beyond the $5,000 worth of tuition benefits he already receives.
Or someone might have seen that Saini’s predecessors had worked on the website as part of their duties and didn’t ask for a little something extra.
This year’s senate executives have expressed their frustration with the decision to pay Saini being made behind closed doors. We hope this indicates that they will strive to remain transparent in their decisions this year.
With their chief goal being to represent the student body, the least they can do is keep the doors open.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
