Cochrane wants university issues discussed in election
The modest fourth-floor McCain Hall office of St. Thomas University’s president Dennis Cochrane offers a bird’s eye view of the small campus.
Sitting in a leather chair, Cochrane picks up a paper clip and fidgets with it as he offers his thoughts on the provincial election campaign.
Always a fan of door-to-door politics, Cochrane thinks that politicians need to recognize the importance of young people getting involved in the political process.
“It’s important that politicians and people in public life recognize that this is a group of people who have an opinion, who have goals and aspirations and expectations, and politicians then should be able to judge themselves accordingly, once they understand that element of the voting population,” he said.
Cochrane’s departure from politics came in 1995 after serving as leader of the Progressive Conservative party.
Despite his years toiling as a politician, the former Magnetic Hill School teacher still considers himself first and foremost an educator – one who is fond of the political process.
Cochrane sees his role as president of STU, a role he will relinquish next July 1, as an opportunity to engage students in this process.
One way he’s doing this is by joining with presidents from the other universities in the province to propose a memorandum of understanding that would outline public funding for the schools for a three-year period.
“Our job as university presidents is to provoke some debate, make sure post-secondary is on the horizon. You can’t go through an election without that being discussed.
“That would be detrimental to the future of post-secondary, if you had an election and no one talked about it.”
While leaders and candidates will make appearances on campus from now until the election, Cochrane thinks that politicians need to be accessible all the time.
“You present yourselves accessible, so students will come into your headquarters, they’ll go to a meeting, that kind of thing, so that they can get to meet you and challenge you and ask you questions,” Cochrane said.
Likewise, students can interact best with politicians by getting involved in the political process – and not just by voting.
“I would rather have a student actively engaged in the process than i would have them necessarily be a member of one party or another,” he said.
“The engagement of young people in politics give us nothing but good things. Good things for the individual, good things for the political process and good things for society.”
For Cochrane, engaging with the students he represents and teaching them about the political process won’t end after Sept. 27. Cochrane is hoping to teach a class on provincial politics next semester.
“You can become a university administrator or a public school administrator or a bureaucrat and completely lose touch with what it’s all about.
“This is a good opportunity for me to kind of keep in touch with students and hear what they’re thinking about a number of things.”
