In trustees we trust

The IU board of trustees does not care about students and their wishes.\nRight or wrong, this seems to be the sentiment among many students on this campus.\nAfter the controversy over the presidential search and its alleged exclusion of students, I decided to investigate what the trustees actually think and what can be done to improve current relations.\nThe main complaint appears to be that the trustees are aloof and do not know or care about IU’s student population.\nSue Talbot, the main source of the presidential search controversy, told me the trustees’ primary source of information about what students are thinking and feeling is the student trustee, Casey Cox. Board President Stephen Ferguson went a bit further, indicating his belief that this is a more efficient source of information than the multitude of committees the board dealt with prior to the existence of a student trustee.\nThis might be true, but I think the trustees should get out a bit more and get some of their own information.\nMs. Talbot seemed genuinely concerned about the current state of relations with students, but the fact that she was so surprised by it tells me that Mr. Cox is not doing his job.\nBut what are the trustees doing to improve the quality of life for students?\nFerguson said “We want to examine the issue of student seating in Assembly Hall. That is something students should be watching.”\nBoth Mr. Ferguson and Ms. Talbot told me they are looking to increase funding for the Pell grants, Wells Scholars and 21st Century Scholars programs.\nI would love to see scholarship programs continue to get funding and to be able to get better seating at the basketball games, and I believe the trustees will put forth a good effort to insure that happens. But in an era of decreasing support from the state, such goals are doubtful.\nBesides the trustees, there is a message in this controversy for someone else too: Michael McRobbie.\nIU President Adam Herbert upset the faculty by doing some things he probably should not have done. And the one group that could have stood up for him – the students – chose not to because he appeared to be aloof and uncaring. Mr. McRobbie, learn from your predecessor’s mistakes.\nSo are the trustees and administrators really as uncaring as they have been made out to be?\nI do not think so.\nIf nothing else, Mr. Ferguson and Ms. Talbot impressed on me how much they care about this school and its students. The trustees were all students themselves at one point, and they both said they want students to be able to have a quality education and a degree they can use in the real world.\nI suggest all the students reading this stop complaining about how the trustees do not care. If they are doing something you do not like or agree with, tell them. Come to one of their meetings and speak up or contact them personally.\nBlanket indictments about the board of trustees do not help anyone, least of all us students.