In a drive for student representation on the Board of Trustees last month, a resolution was presented to Hamline’s Trusteeship Committee. Written by HUSC President Eric Yeakel, the document argued for the importance of a student’s voice on Hamline’s highest decision-making board.

“There’s really not much interaction between the Board of Trustees and students,” said Yeakel. “The Board of Trustees is making large decisions that greatly affect our lives as students, whether that’s plans for campus, facilities, increases in tuition or just general policy changes.”

If the decision passes, responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the current HUSC President.

Yeakel mentioned that an important deciding point was a section in HUSC’s bylaws.

Section 3.01, Subdivision 7 states, “It shall be the duty of the President to execute the following responsibilities: […] act as the student body representative to the following: (1) the University Board of Trustees. (2) MAPCS Delegation. (3) Campus Planning Committee.”

Depending on the Committee’s decision, the representative may serve in one of several positions. With the least amount of power, the representative would be allowed to sit in on meetings of the Board or serve on a committee. With the most power, the representative would have a voice and a vote at Board meetings.

Yeakel presented to the Trusteeship Committee on Wednesday, Apr. 6.

“They asked us things like, ‘How do you see this playing out? Do you want a government role? A relationship? Just a voice?’ Well, we want all of the above,” said Yeakel.

President Miller has continued to support the effort, but maintained reservations about the amount of power the representative should have.

“I strongly believe that having student voice at the trustee level is an important thing,” said Miller. “Do I believe that students should have a vote on the board of trustees? I don’t think that’s necessarily an appropriate role because there are all kinds of issues that become involved with that, dealing with confidentiality and all those kinds of things.”

Augsburg College, the College of St. Benedict, Macalester College, Saint John’s University and St. Olaf College all have student representation of some type on their respective boards. Only the College of St. Benedict and Saint John’s University have voting members.

President Miller elaborated on why a higher-level student representative may cause issues.

“The things that get addressed at the board level that are personnel-related could create some problems if a student is aware of them,” said Miller. “That’s where the confidentiality comes in.”

She proposed that a student representative might fit best on the Undergraduate Academic Committee, a subcommittee of the Board.

“There are board committees where a student could have some impact,” said Miller. “There’s an undergraduate academic committee and I think that that’s a good place to have it. […] That to me is the ideal place for students to be involved.”

Yeakel argued that this conversation is long overdue.

“We’ve been building our relationship with the Board of Trustees,” said Yeakel. “We’ve proven ourselves.”

A decision has yet to be made.

“According to some faculty, it can take up to a year to get in front of the Board of Trustees,” said Yeakel.

As the conversation moves forward, both Miller and Yeakel remain optimistic.

“There’s a role for students to play, and it’s a very important role…” said Miller.