Taking the power back

The Board of Regents needs a student seat

An issue that has been discussed on campus for some time may come under discussion again with this year's regental election.

This November, the names of two University students, LSA senior Scott Trudeau and University of Michigan at Flint student Nick Waun, will be on the ballot for the University Board of Regents, Green and Reform Party tickets respectively.

This is definitely an admirable effort, despite the barriers to being elected that any student running for a position as a member of a third party may encounter. In fact, the Michigan Student Assembly has been working to add a student regent to the board for a long time, but to no avail.

These two campaigns highlight the need for a student regent as a permanent position on the board. While it is possible for students to run for the position under the current system, the cost and effort of the election process makes it particularly difficult for them to do so, to say nothing of being elected while running against people who are more experienced. And since the concerns of students are inseparably linked with the proceedings of the board, it is necessary for the students to have an official representative.

The Board of Regents is ultimately responsible for everything that happens at the University. Consequently, their decisions affect the lives of students most strongly. So it is a grave omission that the students have no direct representation on the board, especially considering that some of the regents have not always had a connection to the University prior to their election. A student regent would certainly be more in tune with the concerns of the student body.

One argument that has been brought up against having a student regent is that it would be a conflict of interest.

After all, University faculty are not allowed to serve on the board. However, their situation is slightly different from that of students. For one thing, faculty is paid by the University, whereas students are not. Also, the faculty has other avenues of influencing the running of the University, while the student body is limited to MSA.

Although it is responsible for many positive actions, the Michigan Student Assembly's influence at the highest levels of the University is debatable.

The establishment of a student regent would give the student body a direct line to the board in a way that MSA cannot provide.

Even without a student regent, it is important that University students take an active interest in the proceedings of the regents - attending meetings and making their voices heard. Until the students have an official representative on the Board of Regents, students must try to influence the board in the only ways they can.