A group of about 15 students marched from the Scramble Light to the Administration Building Monday afternoon protesting the Board of Trustees' refusal to address student representation on the Presidential Search Committee.
Katie Carlson, a member of University Senate, led the group, which carried posters and shouted "one more student."
"This issue is really important," Carlson said. "It affects every student here on campus. The reason for the rally is basically to stand up for students' rights."
At the rally, Carlson passed out fliers stating that students make up 80 percent of Ball State's community but only 7 percent of the 13-member committee.
"It is important we have fair representation on the committee," Michael Piercefield, co-organizer of the rally, said.
Members of the Board of Trustees were not on campus, but Carlson said the group targeted the Administration Building because that is where the board secretary's office is located.
"We were hoping that this message would get carried to them," Carlson said.
Carlson said she originally wanted to have the rally last Friday, but that didn't work out for some of the other students involved. She said she chose to have it in the early afternoon because she felt administrators returning from lunch would have a chance to see it.
Student Government Association President Jayson Manship participated in the march and went ahead of the ralliers to invite acting president Beverly Pitts to come out and listen to what the students had to say.
Pitts said it is important for students to understand that the Board of Trustees is concerned with finding the best president possible.
"I can't speak for the Board of Trustees, but I can say that they want the same thing you want," Pitts said. "You need to know how much they care about you and how much they care about the institution."
Pitts said, however, that she couldn't comment on why the board would not consider adding another student.
"I don't speak to the Board of Trustees, nor do I have any relationship to the search committee," she said. "That's totally their call."
Members of the Tietz Slate also participated in the march. SGA presidential candidate Ben Tietz said his slate "strongly supports" the addition of another student to the committee.
"It is difficult for one person to represent the voices of 17,081 students," he said.
Carlson also raised concern that students were not able to choose the one student representative, Sarah Atkinson. Piercefield said Atkinson is a good representative, but he still feels students should have been involved in the process of selecting her.
Manship said adding another student member to the committee is important, but students should also be aware of other issues on campus.
"The issue goes a lot further than the Search Committee alone," Manship said. "No matter what happens, we need to keep pushing the issues."
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