The Virginia Senate voted 22-16 yesterday to pass a bill requiring all state-supported four-year colleges and universities to appoint one or more students to their Boards of Visitors.
The bill amended a House bill by eliminating the exemption of the Virginia Military Institute from the requirement, according to Maj. Charles Steenburgh, VMI assistant public relations director. Both the House of Delegates and the Senate proposed almost identical bills that would require student members.
The amended bill now awaits approval by the House of Delegates. Both houses will decide which version to send to Gov. James S. Gilmore III (R) for approval.
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The House initially exempted VMI because of its unique structure. "It wouldn't do to have a cadet being on a board that gave orders to the General" since the Board hires and fires faculty, said Col. Edwin Dooley, VMI Board of Visitors secretary.
Dooley said the state legislature did not ask VMI for its input, other than through a survey it sent to all Virginia colleges and universities.
VMI is "pretty indifferent about the bill itself," Steenburgh said.
University Board members said all schools - including VMI - would benefit from having a student member. "Being so immersed in student life and confronting student issues on a daily basis makes a student board member necessary," University student Board member Robert Schoenvogel said. The student member brings a "unique student perspective to the Board that they would lack otherwise."
University Rector John P. Ackerly III said he agrees schools would profit from the proposal.
"The student member of the University's Board has been invaluable," Ackerly said. "I believe that other schools who will now have students on their board will share our Board's enthusiasm."
Board member James C. Wheat III said if the bill does not pass, he still will encourage all schools to have a student member.
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