It’s nice to know that, according to trustee Patrick Ryan Jr., the Northwestern Board of Trustees is able to take into account the needs of university students and workers through “experience” and “consensus” (from Monday’s Daily article entitled “Trustees’ donations on the rise”). But I find it hard to be enthusiastic about people who actively engage in the corruption of national politics by supporting a money-driven system that disqualifies candidates who don’t appeal to the rich.
And I have no desire to allow people who do not know my situation or preferences and who do not share my life experiences, economic position or political ideals to make my decisions for me. As a former student and current staff member, I know all too well that both the Board of Trustees and the administration confront community concerns and demands with indifference or hostility. From dining hall hours to teacher hiring decisions to the use of sweatshop labor in NU apparel, neither the board nor the administration has proved responsive to the input of those they govern.
Is it so radical to expect the university to be run democratically? Is democracy OK for the country but not good enough for campus? Should a clique of unaccountable individuals, representative of only the most privileged sections of society, hold final authority in university decisions? Or should the people who actually teach, work and take classes at NU be making the decisions?