SIU STUDENT TRUSTEES BOTH GET TO VOTE NOW

Both student members of the SIU Board of Trustees now will have voting rights under a new law signed Tuesday by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

Seven members on the board are appointed by the governor, but two more are elected by the students on the Carbondale and Edwardsville campuses. Historically, only one student trustee has been given a vote on matters before the board. The campuses have rotated the vote in the past.

The new law takes effect Jan. 1. Currently, Brione Lockett represents the Carbondale campus, while Mackenzie Rogers represents Edwardsville.

"Student voices matter," Pritzker said in a statement. "That, at its core, is why we're amplifying the student voice on the board of trustees, offering each major campus equal say in board affairs no matter the date or time of year."

During the signing event at the SIU Edwardsville campus, Pritzker also said that more than $280 million will be invested in the SIU system through the six-year Rebuild Illinois capital plan. This spending includes $83 million for a new communications building on the Carbondale campus, $105 million for a health sciences building on the Edwardsville campus, and $93 million in new funding for reconstruction projects at the two campuses, along with the School of Medicine.