Democracy – Legislator listens to students’ concerns about trustee elections
October 27, 1997
SIUC Student Trustee Pat Kelly has found a new ally in Champaign, as Rep. Rick Winkel has introduced legislation in support of granting state student trustees a vote on Boards of Trustees while maintaining democratic trustee elections.
This long-needed idea was the intent of House Bill 923, sponsored by Republicans Winkel and Sen. Stan Weaver of Urbana. But according to his July 31 amendatory veto message, Gov. Jim Edgar thought it necessary to tamper with this great deal for students in spite of his promises of support for student input on the Board.
Edgar proposed that committees select student trustees rather than have them selected by a democratic vote on college campuses. Then, the governor would hand-pick the trustee under the premise the action would be fair because other voting board members are selected in that way.
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But Kelly and other student leaders across the state rightfully cried foul at Edgar’s suggestion especially after original sponsors Winkel and Weaver endorsed Edgar’s changes. Nevertheless, groups of students began a dogged effort in early October to protect students’ right to elect their own student trustees.
In spite of that statewide student opposition, SIUC administrators tapped lobbyist Garrett Deakin to garner support for Edgar’s changes. A few weeks ago, Deakin predicted the student lobbyists would fail in attempts to get Winkel to file for an override. Winkel has since shown that a little rethinking and added concern for students sometimes can make a difference.
Winkel’s new legislation preserves the popular campus elections for student trustees, partly because of House Parliamentarian Michael Kasper’s questioning of the constitutionality of Edgar’s actions.
The Illinois constitution states an amendatory veto cannot significantly change the intent of a bill. Apparently, Winkel also is worried that Edgar’s amendatory veto was unconstitutional. This is good news for students.
But there is another side, of course, as another legislator has opposed what students really need a democratically elected trustee with real power on the Board of Trustees. Rep. Gary Hannig, D-Gillespie, introduced new legislation that basically could have been culled from Edgar’s own lips, as it restates the changes proposed in Edgar’s amendatory veto message.
This is not all bad, because now state government officials are going to have to choose in favor of students’ rights or against them. Kelly vows to make sure they choose correctly by lobbying against Hannig’s bill through the veto session.
Legislators need to realize that giving a student a vote on the Board of Trustees does little for the good of entire student bodies not when the governor actually selects a school’s trustee. This is almost worse than when students would select their own trustees as SIUC students elected Pat Kelly and others before him but trustees were not given a vote on the board. What’s the use of offering students a vote on the Board of Trustees through their trustees if students have little say in selecting who their concerns are expressed through? Hannig and Edgar want to give students a vote, but they never want students to really use it quite an effective silencing method.
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The veto session reconvenes Tuesday and goes to Oct. 30, then begins anew Nov. 12 to Nov. 14. A debate on Winkel’s and Hannig’s bills is expected and if state officials really consider students’ concerns, then Winkel’s bill should prevail.
Unless, of course, they do not believe that students are responsible enough to make informed decisions as to who they want on their Boards of Trustees.
That would be unfortunate, because students can vote in general elections as well. Perhaps legislators may want to consider that when they are contacted by Kelly and other students in the coming weeks because we stay informed by paying attention to your actions.
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