Despite curators' concerns, Luetkemeyer still in favor of student vote

Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed a bill that would have given the "student curator" a vote.

By Joey Soto

Published Sept. 5, 2008

Correction appended

The vetoing of a bill does not necessarily mean its ideas are dead, said Tony Luetkemeyer, student representative to the UM system Board of Curators.

After more than a year of working toward student suffrage on the Board of Curators, Luetkemeyer's goal appeared to finally be realized. That is, until Gov. Matt Blunt vetoed the student curator bill on July 9.

"I was obviously deeply disappointed in the governor's decision because it had overwhelming support in both houses of the Missouri legislature," Luetkemeyer said. "It came as quite a surprise."

But the legislature has the opportunity to override Blunt's veto when the veto session begins Sept. 10. Both the Senate and the House would have to provide a two-thirds vote to override the veto.

Concerns have circulated among the curators after discovering that in 2010, Missouri might have its congressional districts redrawn, with one less than before. If the state loses a district, the board, which comprises nine curators with one from each district, would shrink from nine voting-eligible parties to eight.

In an attempt to fill the vacancy left by the potential vacancy, Sen. Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, and Rep. Bryan Pratt, R-Blue Springs, introduced a proposal that would replace the lost member with a full-time student to serve a two-year term.

The curators conducted a special meeting on May 12 to create a resolution opposing the legislation, but the bill passed both houses in the General Assembly this spring.

Curator Don Walsworth said he considers the student representative position to be invaluable, but that it should have limitations.

"The student curator is very important to the board," Walsworth said. "But I am adamantly against giving the position the ability to vote."

Among his arguments, Walsworth cites a student curator's inexperience and short, two-year term as deciding factors.

"I've been on the board for six years and I'm just now feeling experienced in the decisions I'm making," Walsworth said.

Luetkemeyer said he strongly disagrees with Walsworth's opinion that the student curator would be too inexperienced.

"The student curator typically has campus leadership experience beforehand," Luetkemeyer said. "Any learning curve would be lessened because of their previous experience."

Another argument documented in the board's resolution is that a voting student would create bias in the process because a student would not accurately represent all stakeholders in the UM system.

"There are many constituencies, not limited to faculty, staff and retirees that do not have a dedicated voting member on the Board of Curators," the report stated.

Luetkemeyer said he agrees with Walsworth's concern, but the bias is not what Walsworth is making it out to be.

"I can't see how someone who is personally invested in terms of time and financial contributions to the university could have a negative bias," Luetkemeyer said. "We have a positive bias in favor of the university and we have the long-term interests of the institutions at heart."

While Luetkemeyer was in St. Paul, Minn., at the Republican National Convention, the curators met Thursday to discuss several issues, including the student curator bill.

The board opted to move the decision to the governance board, which will in turn send the situation back to the curators for a final decision.

Curator Judith Haggard said the board has resolved to look into what other institutions have done in the past and to create a proposal from those findings.

"We are looking to establish a precedent by really studying what other Big 12 schools have done with their governing board," Haggard said. "And we're hoping to come back to the board with a proposal."

Haggard is unsure when the final decision will be made, but she said she realizes the matter's urgency.

"I know we need to do this pretty quickly," she said. "It depends on how quickly they (the governance board) get the meeting going and get their act together."