Comments made by Trustee Marsha Croninger were the topic of discussion at Thursday’s Board of Trustees meeting after students and others were offended by her statement that students are not constituents of the board.

The comment was made during a City College Board of Trustees candidate forum featuring Croninger and her opponent for Area 5, Darcel Elliott, hosted through Jerry Roberts’ “Newsmakers” on Wednesday, Sept. 26.

“Our mission is to have students be educated and be successful in learning and graduating and getting jobs but they’re not our constituents,” Croninger said in the candidate forum. “Constituents are the voters. The voters are the shareholders of the college and they are the ones who are basically the owners of the college. The students are our, you might call them clients, they are our mission as I said to do that work but they are not the constituents.”

When opposing candidate Darcel Elliott responded that “students are also voters,” Croninger said she agreed.

“Some of them are absolutely, in the districts where they live absolutely,” Croninger said. “I mean in general the voters in the district are the constituents.”

The issue was brought up during public comment by Ethan Bertrand a City College alumni and elected official of Isla Vista Community Services District.

“The message that was provided, that students are not constituents, discourages student involvement, investment, and participation in civic engagement. It strains the effort for the college to promote student voter registration and turnout and it totally goes against basic democratic principles,” Bertrand said.

Following Bertrand’s statement Associated Student Government President Joshua Villanueva brought up the topic again at the end of his regular report to the board.

“Some of the things that were said relating to our students not being constituents, I hope to believe that was mistakenly said,” Villanueva said. “I do want to let the students watching this video to know how important it is that we vote and that we are taken seriously.”

Shortly after Croninger addressed Villanueva and Bertrand, who was still present, about the comment.

“I just wanted to let you know that I think the comments there were misinterpreted. Students who vote absolutely are constituents and I said that shortly after the part that Ethan was reading. I fully support the registration effort and I hope we have a great turnout,” Croninger said.

Near the end of the meeting the comment was addressed again, this time by Vice President of the Board Jonathan Abboud.

“You don’t need to be a voter to be a constituent. My district has a lot of undocumented folks, they are my constituents too. All humans who live in the SBCC district are our constituents and I want to make that clear that that is what the California Constitution says,” Aboud said.

Croninger agreed and said the comment she made was in a different context.