The Board of Regents has failed, once again, to take the opinions of students into account when making decisions that directly affect students. At Wednesday’s Board of Regents meeting, which took place right here on Iowa State’s campus, the board unanimously approved to increase international tuition by $1,500 over the next three years.

The Board of Regents exists to ensure the proper management of Iowa’s public universities. The regents are charged with making the tough decisions after gathering all of the information and opinions of those affected by their decisions.

The current student regent serving on the board, Rachael Johnson, has the sole duty of representing the opinions of all students of the three universities.

She failed to even acknowledge the letter sent by Student Government President Daniel Breitbarth, and a resolution the Student Government Senate had passed, both of which strongly opposed the $1,500 tuition hike.

Johnson said she had spoken with students at all three universities and believed she knew what we wanted.

I am writing this letter, not upset that tuition for my fellow students is increasing, but as a student who is extremely disappointed in the Board of Regents’ failure to even acknowledge our concerns at the meeting.

Abhijit Patwa, a current International student at Iowa State, believed the regents “set a dangerous precedent by voting without so much as a discussion on raising tuition.” He said “despite having a student regent, the students were not represented at the meeting.”

The administration of Iowa State listened to our concerns and engaged in discussion with students. That is all we ask. We want our voices to be heard. We expect the board to consider our opinions because its decisions directly affect us.

We should be able to trust that those representing us have our best interests in mind and will respond to our voices. On Wednesday, the board confirmed that I cannot have confidence in its representation.

This is not the first time the Board has failed to hear all stakeholders.

In an interview with The Cedar Rapids Gazette, UI Faculty Senate President Christina Bohannan said the board “… Wanted faculty involved in this process [of hiring a new university president], they said that they wanted to hear from us and that they respected our viewpoints. And in the end, they clearly did not.”

I feel betrayed by the board, just as the faculty and students at Iowa feel betrayed.

At some point, the regents must realize that they do not know everything about current student life and that we, as students, may have a better view on issues than they do. 

I appreciate that the board is willing to serve Iowa’s public institutions but I cannot support it when students’ voices are not heard.

Regardless of the outcome of this decision, the voices of students went unheard Wednesday, both by regent Johnson and the entire board. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.