Thursday, March 28, 2024

Most important race for U is too often forgotten

With most of the national and state focus on the presidential race and congressional races, there are many races that are overlooked. The one that most immediately affects you is the MSU Board of Trustees race, where two individuals will be elected to eight-year terms on our university’s highest governing body. So who are you going to vote for? Texas Gov. George W. Bush? Vice President Al Gore? Why, they aren’t running for the board.

The truth is that most of us are unsure of who is running for trustee at MSU this year - or at Wayne State University, or for regent at the University of Michigan. The few of us who do recognize their names can’t really tell them apart other than their political affiliation - Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc. When pressed on issues affecting MSU - closing the funding gap between MSU and other universities, faculty and staff salaries, diversity of student population - all of the candidates generally agree. So what is the difference and who should you vote for?

That is not the question I wish to raise here in this column. Every two years the citizens of Michigan elect board members at all three universities, and many do not know who they are or what they stand for. Some vote straight ticket, giving their vote to someone who matches their political ideology. Name recognition, while higher this year among MSU candidates, is often low because the campaign funding is not there. People who are interested in MSU issues may not know the issues affecting U-M and Wayne State, and vice versa. So in the spirit of MSNBC’s “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” which was taped on campus recently, the question becomes: Is this the best way to choose these individuals for this important office? Should higher education be politicized?

My answer to both is no.

As a student liaison to the board last year, I can honestly say that no vote occurs down partisan lines, which is currently four to four with Gov. John Engler’s recent appointment of Republican Scott Romney. Knowing each trustee personally, with the exception of Romney, I also can say strongly that each trustee has the best interest of MSU at heart. The board is not political, yet each arrived to where he or she is through politics. Most of the trustees have strong ties to their university, yet they also have shown loyalty to their political party. While this does not affect how they vote, it does affect how they are nominated for election by their party. Other interested individuals, such as history Professor Henry Silverman who sought the Democratic Party nomination this year, are left out of the race because they have not shown similar loyalty to their political parties.

My solution is that the boards for the three major state universities be appointed by the governor’s office, similar to how Oakland University and every other state university board is. The reason is that, hopefully, it will depoliticize higher education in our state and produce the best possible governing boards. But some clarifications must be made here. Obviously Engler’s appointment of Romney, both Republicans, does not depoliticize higher education and I understand that. Romney is running for one of the terms in 2000 and Engler saw an opening to make Romney an incumbent this summer. His appointment, however, speaks more towards the state of the current system than it does about how things would be if the boards were appointed.

It should be noted that this is not my brainchild. Legislation regarding board appointing has been looked at in the state Legislature as recently as this year. The legislation covered political bases by noting that the governor had to appoint equal members of both major parties, depoliticizing the issue. But the committee that addressed this issue also looked at student input on state boards, an issue that student governments across the state have looked at for a time. While our board has student and faculty liaisons who have a voice - but no vote - many university boards are distant from student input.

The system adopted by our neighbors in the state of Illinois created a one year student appointment on state boards. The governor appointed all members to the board and then three students were elected in a campus-wide election, with one appointed as a voting member. This is a system that I think we can mirror in Michigan.

The board would be appointed, not elected, so campaign money would not need to be raised for board elections. Money would not be an issue. Since the governor is elected by the people for four years, the board appointments would last for four years so that future governors were not saddled with someone else’s appointments. A four-year term versus an eight-year term would bring fresh ideas to the board quicker. For those of us worried that board members would not be as accountable to the public, I would say that this does not seem to be a problem at the universities in our state with appointed boards and that ultimately the governor is accountable to the people. There would be an equal number of board members from both parties, which depoliticizes the issue.

The governor’s office would get a longer look at each candidate than the people do, longer than a 30-second television ad or a two minute debate answer. An individual’s experience and depth would come into play and that would only make the boards better.

But my real interest in this debate is the student input. If each board could have at least one student appointed it would raise the level of student input on college campuses throughout our state. I don’t know if qualified individuals like Silverman would ever be appointed to the board, but they may have a better opportunity to try. I am unsure of how big a role one student vote would play in the outcome of board decisions, but they would have more of a role and more of a voice. I can’t say with certainty that this system would depoliticize higher education, but it would take away the need for campaign funding and political party nominations. This plan, my fellow citizens, should be tried. Until then, good luck figuring out who to vote for come Nov. 7.

Michael Webber, a State News undergraduate columnist, can be reached at webbermi@msu.edu.

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