Last week, the Northern Star editorial board expressed its astonishment at Andrew Nelms, NIU’s Board of Trustees student trustee, who voted for a student fee increase March 22.

Though we expressed our lack of confidence in Nelms because of his decision, we were pleased to see that he did not run for re-election. Students will now have a new representative on the BOT.

The position of student trustee is one of the most important elected positions on campus. That person is chosen to be the voice of NIU students, one we hope will at least voice complaint when student fee increases are recommended in the future.

Shaun Crisler, a former SA president, treasurer and senator, has taken Nelms’ place.

We congratulate him on his election win and hope he will do a better job of representing his constituents than some of his predecessors.

What we need is a leader who will fight for students, not someone who is essentially a lap-dog to the administration.

NIU students need a student trustee who will speak out on the issues that students feel are important and represent them on the council that decides the course of NIU’s history.

Students need to be responsible about letting their student trustee know their stance on issues.

Even though students do not pay much attention to BOT decisions, these decisions change their life every day. The idea behind NIU is shared governance – the idea that all of us, students, faculty and administration, all have a hand in the course that the University takes.

We encourage Crisler to take a stand, and we hope that in the future, we are given cause to commend bold decisions, not criticize cowardly ones.