Editor,
I would like to respond to an article from last Wednesday, “Regents approve Master Plan, discuss funding,” which said that student engagement in the University’s Master Plan was “comfortable” and that UNM has tried “diligently to engage” with students in this very crucial plan.
Firstly, the idea that students’ input into the Master Plan would be listened to was dismissed in the first few paragraphs of the article when it told us that the amendment in the Master Plan for a new recreation center was voted down by a 67 percent majority of UNM students.
This tells us that even when students’ input is asked for, it is disregarded. Thus it is hard for me to agree with student regent Jacob Wellman when he said that students had already been reached out to through a website where students could leave comments on the Master Plan.
I think most students would not qualify having a comment section on a website as the University trying to engage students in their 10-15 year Master Plan. In addition, it seems that, judging from the regents ignoring the majority vote against the new recreation center, even if students had flocked to the comment page of this website, their opinions would likely have been overlooked.
I can only hope that the University and the Board of Regents do not continue to consider a comment area on a website a diligent way to engage students, and that in the future they work harder to make sure that students, who are paying greatly for their education, should be able to have a say in where their money goes.
Will Thomson
UNM student
