The brass of the LSU System must think the students at this University are stupid.
They’ve ignored us, spun us and redirected us every time we’ve pointed out the fact that not one student is represented on the group of people making the most important decisions about the university in decades.
Many students emailed Interim System President and Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins asking for more student representation in the reorganization process. Instead of listening to the requests of the people helping to pay his salary, the chancellor sent back a note informing students that the 10 businessmen, doctors and lawyers on the board were “independent and critical thinkers.”
As opposed to the students at your own university, who aren’t independent and critical thinkers, Chancellor? Is that what you’re trying to tell us?
We’re sick of being lied to and being told that students will be represented on a subcommittee dedicated to student experience. Sure, the subcommittee will exist. We guarantee it won’t influence the actual Transition Advisory Team.
We’re also disappointed in the leaders at this University who have yet to acknowledge the importance of students in this process. We’re not 3-year-olds who you can amuse with building blocks and toys as you make important decisions behind our backs. We are the primary stakeholders of this University, whether LSU’s top-dogs will admit it or not.
To the LSU administration: You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Why haven’t we heard the voices of the people tasked with representing student life? Where is K.C. White, our dean of students? Where is Kurt Keppler, our vice chancellor for Student Life and Enrollment? Did somebody put a gag order on them during this reorganization process?
Why isn’t anybody at this University standing up for us?
We will not give up. We are not afraid. We are young, smart, talented, enthusiastic people with more to give back to this University than you can possibly imagine. We care about LSU and its future. And just because we’re not millionaires who sit on the Board of Supervisors, our voices still matter.
We don’t take “I don’t know” as an answer. The enormous number of individuals invested in this University, this System and this state deserve transparency during this pivotal time. Yet the students, the vital criterion for an educational institution, are slammed in the face with a closed-door policy.
If students are left in the dark about the future of our education’s value and respect, does anyone else have a chance for honesty and genuine input?
That must be reserved for CEOs.
The Daily Reveille is not letting go of this one. We will write about it until our fingers bleed, we will submit public records requests to expose the truth behind the closed doors that you’ve led us into, we will call every administrator who left this University and ask for them for answers.
We will not be led into this web of lies and bureaucracy without a fight.
Students, we encourage you to do everything you can to make the point to your leaders that you are more than a small blob clad in yellow in the panoramic photo of Tiger Stadium. Go to the chancellor’s office and stay there until he agrees to see you. Send emails to the chancellor, the provost, the dean of students. Demand answers.
At the heart of all of this is a university people love and care about. It’s about 30,000-plus people and countless others. This isn’t an election or a campaign or a politics game. This is a university. And we want what’s best for it.
