Mr. Scharn ignores the fact that the student body elects a student body president on a yearly basis, who serves as both a liaison between the students and the administration and as an adviser to the University president.
To suggest that the student body, composed primarily of individuals between the ages of 18 and 22, is the best entity to run this University is the height of youthful arrogance. Mr. Scharn would subject the major decisions of running the campus, which are often unpopular yet absolutely necessary, to the whims of mob rule.
Was the majority of the student body in favor of the admission of women and minorities to campus? No. In favor of the end of compulsory service in the Corps of Cadets? No. Yet these decisions were vital to the establishment of A&M as the world-class university that it is today.
If Earl Rudder had been concerned about keeping his position through re-election by the student body, these changes would have been impossible. They were made in the face of great opposition, from both current and former students. Yet, most students and alumni today would agree that they made A&M a stronger, better University.