The student government is looking to grab real power in the University of Memphis’ new governing board.
They will try to pass a student senate bill that will appoint the student president as a voting member of the university’s new governing body.
Right now, the Tennessee Board of Regents governs the U of M and several universities and community colleges across the state. But state legislators will likely dissolve the Board of Regents, allowing Memphis to govern itself.
The new governing board would have at least one student member, David Rudd, president of the U of M, said in February.
However, Rudd said the student would likely not have voting privileges.
This clearly did not sit well with the U of M’s student government.
The student senate bill endorses the separation of Memphis from the Board of Regents but requests the student president get a voting seat on the new governing board.
Student government does not have the power to enact this new voting seat; their bill would only request the U of M allow the student president to vote.
David Knowles, student government president, said he fully supports the student bill.
“We want a student on the board to be able to vote,” he said. “We want our voices to be heard. If the student is given power to vote, I think more campus related issues will be resolved.”
The student member on the new governing board would likely change more frequently than other members.
As a result, the student would likely not have the ability to learn about or understand complex issues that effect the campus, said Rudd in February.
Despite the rapidly changing nature of the position, Knowles still wants a vote on the board.
“We still feel we should have something to say in the decision making process,” Knowles said.
The decision to allow the student to vote on the board is still up in the air.
There are two-dozen people deciding how the new U of M governing board will be formed and whether or not the student member will be allowed to vote.
One member is the university president. “It certainly is not a decision that I make independently,” Rudd said in February.
Brandon Reynolds, biology senior, believes there should be a student on the board regardless of whether they can vote or not.
The 21-year-old Bartlett native believes students’ voices can and will be heard.
“I think that just having one of us on the board can greatly sway how things go in the voting process,” he said. “If you ask me, it gives the rest of the governing board a chance to hear something from our perspective. Of course if we could vote, that would be cool, but even if we can’t, we would still have a voice. In my opinion, that counts for something.”
Freshman Haley Kelso disagreed with Reynolds’ take. The 18-year-old from Munford, Tennessee, thinks it is “pointless” to have a student on the board if they cannot vote.
“I honestly think our voices either won’t be heard or taken seriously if we can’t vote,” she said. “The other guys on the board probably won’t even listen to what the student has to say. What is the point of having a student there if their vote is not even going to count? Makes no sense to me.”
