A piece of Associated Students of the University of Wyoming legislation that recommended that the UW Board of Trustees change from appointed positions to elected ones failed to garner enough support to pass in ASUW’s Tuesday meeting.
The resolution, which asked the Wyoming state legislature to amend the state’s constitution to allow the citizens of Wyoming to vote for trustees and would have been sent to the legislators and governor if passed, failed with a vote of 7 for and 16 against, with no abstentions. The bill’s co-author, Sen. Jordan Pierson, spoke about the bill’s motivation.
“This bill is a response to a lot of things I’ve been hearing around campus, people not supporting decisions by the Board of Trustees,” she said. “I think this resolution aims for more representation and transparency.”
Student Senate spent more time discussing this bill than any other on the agenda, and it was the only bill to fail out of the 11 that were voted on in the meeting. Senators accused it of being too reactionary, saying that it was a needless attack on the Board of Trustees after their dismissal of President Laurie Nichols. Sen. Benjamin Wetzel spearheaded the attack on the bill with comments on the its intent.
“This bill seems intended to pick a fight with the Board of Trustees, and we really don’t want to do that,” he said. “If you want to write legislation that condemns the Board of Trustees, then write that legislation. This resolution seems to be cutting off our nose to spite our face.”
ASUW President Alex Mulhall joined Senator Wetzel against the bill, saying that while recent events have made many people skeptical of the Board of Trustees’ decision-making ability, the Board of Trustees has worked with her to be more transparent.
Other senators listed the many times that the Board of Trustees have listened to the students and faculty, and discussed the feasibility of the bill’s goal to amend the Wyoming constitution.
Sen. Courtney Titus, who co-authored the legislation, spoke about the bill’s intent.
“This is something I’ve been thinking about since I transferred to UW,” said Titus. “Though we waited to draft the legislation until after Laurie Nichols was dismissed, it wasn’t reactionary from our side.”
After the bill’s failure, senators discussed the possibility of future legislation that could address the issue without resorting to extremes. Pierson said that she would like to see a survey conducted that would poll the UW community about their support for an elected Board of Trustees. A survey of this kind would have been conducted had the bill passed.
Opponents of the bill had other ideas.
“I don’t really want to discuss ideas for future legislation on the topic, as it’s not my place to say,” said Wetzel. “It’s the incoming senate’s duty to figure something out.”
The meeting ended with thanks from all the outgoing Senate officials, who expressed their gratitude at the good they were able to do for the student body. The question of ASUW’s relationship with the Board of Trustees will be left to the incoming Senate officers to decide.
