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November 23, 2004
Letter to the Editor: Dear Board of Trustees: You don’t understand students’ needs and wants. Give us a voice.
To the Board of Trustees:
As you know, Hamline is a business. It is a company which, like any other institution, has many components that constitute the end result: the students. The students are the manufactured product of the Hamline corporation, and they include undergraduate, graduate, and law students. Students are not naive - they realize the importance of Hamline, Inc.čbut students also see that although Hamline announces itself to be “student-centered,” it is a little off when is comes to what the students want.
Last Tuesday morning at the usual Hamline University Student Congress (HUSC) general assembly, students and representatives sat listening, strangely attentive, to five white men, fully suited, attired in ties, shiny shoes and glasses. These men, who are considered the president’s staff, looked and spoke nothing like the general assembly before them. Considered the “heads” of the business aspect of Hamline University, these men are responsible for maintaining this “student-centered” institution.
They spoke of finances, dorm rooms, and even the seemingly taboo subject of social justice. In long-winded answers, they restated the “Hamline Mission,” “Hamline Promise,” and, of course, reiterated the
importance of money.
After only a few minutes of listening to the Hamline Decision-Makers, it was very easy to understand why
Hamline lacks accountability in being “student-centered.” These men, although probably very intelligent and successful at their positions, had absolutely no idea of what the students want or need.
I am not blaming them. How can we expect them fairly represent us, a diverse, growing community? But if they are not representing us when making institutional decisions, who is? Student needs and wants change from year to year, but that does not mean students should not have a voice at all times in decisions that will directly affect them. It seems fairly simple when I search for a solution to the problem.
Although students do not have money to donate, they pay tuition, and therefore they deserve a say in where that money goes. As of now, the main decision-makers are the Board of Trustees, a governance board, which officially is compiled of 40 voting elected trustees and 11 nonvoting “lay” trustees. Most of these trustees are high donors, business professionals, and, in simple college language, “high-rollers.”
Although many of us aspire to be one of these trustees someday, there are many differences between us and them, and, because of those, accurate representation of the student body is not happening.
So, the solution is this: Let one of usčyes, a general studentčon that decision-making board. Let us be involved in the process. Let us give our opinion. Let us help the board to be “student centered.”
As students, we have a right to be represented. Without us, this university would not exist. The idea of student representation on the Board might seem outrageous to long-standing trustees, but, in the grand scheme, it is fairly logical.
Hamline students have a tremendous opportunity coming in the next few weeks. We will be having a new leader, with new ideas, and hopefully new opinions on the best way to be “student-centered.” As our new president is announced, I call all students to show and express Hamline students’ strong drive and determination. Let us make a stand for all students and all voices, and let us fight for the right to be an active part of our community.
Instead of channeling our voices from councils, to committees, to offices, let a student be a part of the body that “facilitates decision-making and action throughout the university.” The idea seems simple considering it is the students who are impacted by those decisions.
Shanelle Evens
CLA Student
Posted by msveum at November 23, 2004 11:12 AM
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