Bergen Community Board Gives Alumni a Vote After Student Petition

students gained a voice in deciding the direction of the college Tuesday, when the Board of Trustees granted their alumni member voting rights.

Students didn't to the fireworks they did in April, when they disrupted the monthly board meeting with chanting and speeches.

But unlike the April meeting, when there weren't enough members in attendance, the Board of Trustees actually voted, giving students a victory in a fight they have waged since December. Alyson Cina, a senator with student government at the college, has been one of the students agitating for alumni trustee John Zeuner to have voting rights from the beginning.

"It was fairly emotional to see that we even won a battle," Cina said.

Getting Zeuner a vote is only the first step for students, Margarita Valdez, president-elect of student government, said. She plans to push for a current student to have a seat—and a vote—on the board.

Zeuner has full voting rights until his term ends June 30. After that, Kathryn Rodriguez, current president of student government, and as of next week, Bergen Community College alumni, will take over.

Rodriguez said she would help students gain a voting member alongside her on the board.

"Step two is clearly to have an actual student sitting on the board," she said.

Though students counted as a victory the resolution granting Zeuner, and later Rodriguez, voting rights, some questioned whether it had a time limit. The language of the resolution grants voting rights to an alumni trustee graduating in 2012—namely, Rodriguez.

It specifically mentions granting voting rights to Zeuner through June 30 as well—but there is  no mention of what happens after that.

Trustee Cid Wilson  asked why the resolution wasn't written to grant the alumni trustee voting rights perpetually. Freeholder John Driscoll, who pushed for Zeuner to have a vote in April, suggested that the board could amend its bylaws to permanently grant the alumni trustee voting rights.

"We can't bind a future board," responded board chairman E. Carter Corriston. "That's the important thing, and the statute doesn't give us that right as I read the statute."

Corriston said he believes future boards will continue to grant voting rights to their alumni trustees.