Closed Meetings Are Not in the Interest of Students
Ben Harley
Issue date: 12/8/09 Section: Opinion
Student Senate meetings are held every Tuesday at noon. The first ten minutes of each meeting is open forum, but after that students are asked to leave. The rest of each meeting is confidential.
Student Senate does not disclose their minutes after the meetings, and they are in no way held accountable, by the student body for using that time effectively. This is not right. This is not American.
The current student senate closed meeting policy follows a bourgeois democratic model. This is a conservative model where the student's vote for senators who then govern without close scrutiny.
The fact that their meetings are not open to the student body is proof of this. This model is not the standard in the United States, but it is an effective mode of governance. With less people in the room, it is easier to get things done.
However, this may not be the best way to govern. The federal government, and the state of Illinois both have sunshine laws, which allow any interested citizens to sit in on legislative meetings.
According to Political Science Professor Joel Ostrow, "These elected bodies that levy taxes on residence have to have transparency because citizens need to be able to see how their resources are being used." Benedictine's Student Senate is not forced to comply with any of these laws, because they are a private institution. Still they probably should open their doors.
Ostrow explained that Senate is in place to make decisions for the student body. The student body is their citizens. And since their budget comes from the student body's tuition, it's just like they are levying taxes from their citizens.
What this means to me is that Senate should be held accountable for decisions, and student's should be able to know what kinds of decisions are being made, before they are enacted.
Of course, student senators do not live in a bubble. They are on campus, and very active in researching student concerns, and finding ways to address those concerns.
Student Senate does not disclose their minutes after the meetings, and they are in no way held accountable, by the student body for using that time effectively. This is not right. This is not American.
The current student senate closed meeting policy follows a bourgeois democratic model. This is a conservative model where the student's vote for senators who then govern without close scrutiny.
The fact that their meetings are not open to the student body is proof of this. This model is not the standard in the United States, but it is an effective mode of governance. With less people in the room, it is easier to get things done.
However, this may not be the best way to govern. The federal government, and the state of Illinois both have sunshine laws, which allow any interested citizens to sit in on legislative meetings.
According to Political Science Professor Joel Ostrow, "These elected bodies that levy taxes on residence have to have transparency because citizens need to be able to see how their resources are being used." Benedictine's Student Senate is not forced to comply with any of these laws, because they are a private institution. Still they probably should open their doors.
Ostrow explained that Senate is in place to make decisions for the student body. The student body is their citizens. And since their budget comes from the student body's tuition, it's just like they are levying taxes from their citizens.
What this means to me is that Senate should be held accountable for decisions, and student's should be able to know what kinds of decisions are being made, before they are enacted.
Of course, student senators do not live in a bubble. They are on campus, and very active in researching student concerns, and finding ways to address those concerns.
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