During today’s all-campus elections, students who pay the student services fee for the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group when they register have the opportunity to elect members to the organization’s Twin Cities campus board.
MPIRG is the largest consumer and environmental advocacy organization in Minnesota. The organization formed about 25 years ago. As part of the University’s MPIRG chapter, board members voice student issues in these areas but also receive practical training in research, writing, public speaking and lobbying.
Elected members will fill the 25-member board. Five students represent the St. Paul campus and 20 represent the Minneapolis campuses. The University’s Ecology Club endorsed a slate of 25 candidates, many of whom were on the board this year.
MPIRG organizer Carron Perry said the board members have a great deal of influence on the campus and throughout the state because they choose the issues MPIRG will tackle on campus. But Perry added that many students are not aware that the candidates are out there.
“(The election of members) is a really big deal,” Perry said. “The problem is the people inherently attracted to work with MPIRG are really not the type of people who like to campaign. They are not high-profile.”
— Tracy Ellingson