Staff Editorial | Introduction of young trustee will bring invaluable perspective to Board

On Sunday Jan. 22, the Vassar Student Association (VSA) Council released a proposal that would to allow for the creation of a young trustee position on the College's Board of Trustees. The proposal, which is intended to bridge the gap between Board members and the current campus climate, will move to the Board of Trustees in February. We at The Miscellany News support the inclusion of a young trustee, seeing its benefit in endowing the Board with an invaluable perspective into the issues and concerns facing the current study body.

We recognize that this must be accomplished through the inclusion of a young alumnus and not a current student. A young graduate will not face the same temptations that might affect a current student; he or she will be more likely to see the value in long-term planning, a hallmark of the Board's mission. To this end, the young trustee will possess an ideal combination of distance and proximity to the College; close enough to understand the current campus climate, yet distant enough to evade pressures from the study body.

The inclusion of a young trustee, the precise details of which are addressed in our Jan. 26, issue, would fill a void currently plaguing Vassar's Board of Trustees: the generational gap between students and the distinguished alumni who currently comprise our Board of Trustees. While we know that this seniority of Board members means years, even decades, of experience making decisions for the College, we find it important to note that the youngest alumni currently serving on the Board graduated in 1988. We feel that the young trustee voice is necessary as a conduit between these experienced trustees and today's quotidian Vassar life.

One argument against the VSA's proposal that we hope to dispel in this editorial is that the young trustee may be too inexperienced to be tasked with the responsibility of maintaining the long-term goals and image of the College. At present, members on the Board are, critics say, all experts in their particular area and deeply invested in the College and the young trustee would have no such area of expertise. On the contrary, we believe that youth is precisely the young trustee's area of expertise; just as a trustee may be an expert on issues pertaining to financial aid, the young trustee could serve as an expert on student life and campus culture. Adding this new position would close the generational gap on the Board, which would benefit current students and the Board alike.

Such a position, which relies on the intergenerational mixing of students, administrators and alums, is not entirely without precedence at the College. The Judicial Board, the VSA and other committees, for example, employ both students and administrators together in running College affairs. This makes us confident that a recent Vassar graduate, perhaps even someone with experience with this sort of joint governance, would work well within the Board of Trustees. In addition to this precedent at Vassar, there have been examples of young trustees on the Boards of other colleges; Connecticut College has a young trustee position on their Board, to name one peer institution.

Beyond this, we at The Miscellany News caution future candidates to apply with care and regard for the magnitude and commitment this nascent position will require. The young trustee would have the same powers and responsibilities as any other Board member. The future candidate should prepare for a four-year term, and know the inner workings of the College and the needs of its students well enough to bring a worthwhile contribution to the Board. The position is certainly not without prestige, but a candidate should not apply solely for this reason. The responsibilities and actions of the Board are not to be taken lightly.

In the interest of bridging the gap between current trustees and the general student body, we wholeheartedly support the VSA's proposal for the addition of a young trustee to the Vassar College Board of Trustees. We acknowledge the potential concerns of trustees and College administrators and we urge them to think of the benefit that could be shared through the inclusion of a knowledgeable, passionate and responsible young trustee to the Board. If the selection process is conducted carefully and competitively, this could be an incredibly enriching experience for the entire Vassar community, students and alumni alike.

—The Staff Editorial represents the opinion of at least two-thirds of the 21-member Miscellany News Editorial Baord.