NIU is taking the bone, but it’ll be back for more.

Illinois Governor James Thompson has on his desk House Bill 2842, which would allow NIU and ISU one alumni voting member a piece on the Board of Regents.

NIU has tried to get its own governing board for the past 20 years and has waded through the bureaucractic red tape to find a way to do it. But it seems they must start small and build up.

NIU is in a race to be the second largest university in the state. The University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana, is first. U of I has its own governing board.

The Board’s approval of NIU and ISU alumni is one way to calm the support building for separate governing boards at the universities.

NIU should not be satisfied with one voting member on the Board because his or her one vote could be overridden by the other 10 members.

Board Chancellor Roderick Groves said the acceptance of the alumni proves the quality of the university’s alumni. However, Groves and the rest of the Board should recognize students’ needs within the university, not what students accomplished outside of NIU.

While the Regents try to muffle any cries for separate governing boards, NIU students and faculty should let it be known the alumnus is only the first step to a separate governing board, not the last.

Groves must know that NIU will gnaw the bone for awhile, but there isn’t enough meat on it to last for long.