UPDATE: Legislators Pan Malloy Veto of Bill to Allow More Students on UConn Board of Trustees

Update: 9:09 p.m.

State Sen. Mae Flexer (D- Killingly) and State Rep. Gregory Haddad (D- Mansfield) say they are disappointed at Gov. Dannel Malloy’s decision to veto expansion of UConn’s Board of Trustees to include two more student representatives.

Flexer and Haddad both represent the University of Connecticut in the General Assembly and are members of the legislature’s Higher Education Committee, which unanimously passed the bill out of committee.

In a statement Flexer said, “This was a bill that enjoyed broad and deep bipartisan support in the General Assembly -- by a vote of 180 to 1. The governor’s veto flies in the face of our elected state government and of the millions of people we represent.”

Flexer added, “Student membership on the Board of Trustees has remained stagnant over the past 40 years at just two members: one undergraduate, and one graduate. Even as UConn enrollment has essentially doubled across all its campuses over that same time period, student representation on the Board of Trustees remains at a paltry two members on a Board of 21.”

In a statement, Haddad said, ““This veto ignores two very basic realities taking place on the UConn campus. One, that the student undergraduate population has grown significantly over the last two decades, and two that student tuition dollars and fees are funding more of the university’s operating budget than ever before.”

Haddad added, “On an issue of this importance, which greatly impacts thousands of UConn students, I will be asking leadership in the House of Representatives to consider overriding Governor Malloy’s veto.”

Original story: 3 p.m.

A bill that would have increased the student representation on the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees was vetoed by Gov. Dannel Malloy on Friday.

With the addition of two more student members, the bill would have expanded the membership of the board from 21 to 23. Currently, there are 12 members appointed by the governor; two elected by alumni; two elected by students and five ex-officio members including the governor and the Commissioners of Agriculture and Education.

Malloy said that the students already have enough representation on the board.

In his veto message, Malloy wrote, “While I encourage and support student involvement in the issues confronting students and public higher education, currently there is the opportunity for direct student input on the Board of Trustees. The trustees bring varied experiences, professional expertise, and diverse viewpoints to their work — including those of students.”

Malloy also wrote that the board “ was constituted to reflect the breadth of its charge in carrying out the University of Connecticut’s educational mission with that balance of viewpoints in carrying out its mission. Currently that balance is met with the inclusion of two trustees elected from the alumni of the University, in addition to two students elected by the student body — all of whom are voting members.”

Malloy said the bill “would alter the balance currently reflected in the makeup of the Board of Trustees. … with two elected and voting student members the Board of Trustees, the University of Connecticut already exceeds the average for student inclusion at public universities.”

And the governor added, “There are many avenues for student input in the decisions affecting the student community.”

Photo credit: ct.gov.