UPDATE 6/13/13 7:00 p.m.: Associated Students of Madison Chair David Gardner released a statement Thursday criticizing Gov. Scott Walker’s decision to withdraw his appointment of Joshua Inglett as a student regent.
Gardner said Walker’s decision “highlights the overly politicized nature of the appointment process” and said he is campaigning for more student input in the selection process. He also said ASM is currently working to pass a bill that would change the wording of a state law to require the governor to select a student regent from a pool of candidates approved by elected student officials, rather than encourage him to do so, according to the statement.
He also said ASM is currently working to pass a bill that would change one word in a state law to require the governor to select a student regent from a pool of candidates approved by elected student officials, according to the statement.
“Students need to be a part of this process to ensure student issues are represented in the Board of Regents, not partisan ones,” Gardner said in the statement.
Gov. Scott Walker withdrew his appointment of Joshua Inglett, a student who signed a petition to recall the governor in 2011, as the student regent on the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents.
The Board of Regents is made up of 18 members who govern the UW System by instituting policies and rules. Two student regents serve terms lasting two years, while citizen regents are instated for seven years.
Walker appointed Inglett as the student regent to the Board of Regents Monday along with two citizen regents, former lieutenant governor and Republican state senator Margaret Farrow and former state auditor Janice Mueller.
The state Senate must confirm Walker’s appointments to the Board of Regents.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Walker spokesperson Tom Evenson had no comment on the withdrawal or Walker’s reason for changing his mind.
RightWisconsin.com reported Wednesday that Inglett appears on the Put Wisconsin First database of individuals who signed the 2011 recall petition.
Inglett told Madison TV station WKOW that the governor’s office did not ask about the recall petition until Wednesday. Inglett said he told officials he had signed the petition and later that day his offer to serve as a student regent was withdrawn. Inglett said he had been “very excited for the opportunity to serve the system,” according to WKOW.
In an email to The Daily Cardinal Thursday, Inglett said he believes the Board of Regents has larger issues to attend to than his appointment.
Inglett attends the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and is originally from Portage, Wis. He is majoring in engineering physics and minoring in mathematics and business administration.
