Losing our voice

In a quote that ran in the Jan. 19 IDS article "Committee pleased with candidates for next IU president," the administration articulated exactly what we have suspected all along: Those responsible for spending our money and ensuring our education couldn't care less about the undergraduate voice. \nSue Talbot, an IU trustee who chairs the presidential search committee, responded to questions regarding recent comments by IU Student Association Vice President Andrew Lauck on the matter of undergraduate representation lacking in the presidential search with, "Yes, we considered their suggestions, and no, we did not choose to involve them (IUSA) in the process."\nThis is one big, tactless slap in face. Basically, one of the IU bigwigs is saying, "Yes they heard us, but no they don't care about what we have to say." The trustees don't care that the undergraduates will be the ones most affected by the changes imposed by the new administration, since they make up the majority of the student population. They don't care that the flagship campus has no student representation on the presidential search committee. (The only student representative on the search committee is Michael Renfrow, a graduate student from South Bend.) Though Talbot believes Renfrow is in fact doing a fine job of representing all students, as we have articulated before, how can someone who has not attended the largest IU campus in an undergraduate context possibly represent the needs and interests of University undergraduates with adequate knowledge?\nLauck and IUSA's continued position (even after hosting its open undergraduate forum on Oct. 12, 2006) that undergraduates need to be represented on the committee, points to a larger undergraduate sentiment. There is a reason the current IUSA administration was elected to represent the student body. To deny its voice as legitimate speaks volumes about the IU board of trustees.\nThe selection of IU's next president will affect the future undergraduate classes immensely for years to come, and they deserve to be represented in the process by those who understand the interests, needs and concerns of the undergraduate constituency. And though a single undergraduate voice may not make an exponential difference in the face of trustee and administrative interests, to include them in the process would be an important gesture of good will by the administration. \nHowever, to come out with the statement that the undergraduate opinion has been consciously disregarded by the presidential search committee is a serious insult. The fact is that without the huge undergraduate community and all the brains, talent and money we bring to IU, Talbot and her colleagues would not have jobs, nor would IU have the outstanding reputation as an academic and social institution it does. \nThe administration would be wise to rethink its position on the status of undergraduates in the search process. How well could it reflect to the rest of the academic community that IU does, in fact, view its undergraduates as faceless masses to be milked for money instead of minds to be considered in decision-making processes? \nSo here's a final message: Someday, these undergraduates will be alumni. Don't expect abundant donations to the University.