By Mac Weekly Staff

When the Board of Trustees meeting was cancelled in early March due to inclement weather, most items on the Board’s agenda were tabled until the May 11 meeting. Among the items for consideration at the meeting will be the formation of a student liaison position for which Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) has been advocating.

“We’re in limbo until May,” said MCSG President Jess Hasken ’07. “We’re trying to find a balance between being prepared and being cognizant of the fact that this is still contentious among the trustees.”

The trustees considered a proposal for the student liaison position during their January retreat, but had planned to vote on the matter at the March meeting. According to Hasken, MCSG received feedback from the meeting regarding the position description.

If the position is created in May, the first meeting the liaison would attend would be in fall 2007. Hasken expressed concern that the delay in approving the position could limit the time available to train the first student.

“From [student government’s] perspective it’s really important that [the student liaisons] have two years of experience,” Hasken said. “Our main concerns are institutional memory and being prepared for the position.”
The drive to obtain a student voice on the Board of Trustees was introduced by former MCSG President Ben Johnson ’06 in 2005 and has been integral to subsequent candidates’ platforms, including Hasken’s.

Angela whited