It's Time to Search for New Cheese

It's Time to Search for New Cheese

By: Katie Whittern

Today an article on the front page of the Oklahoma Daily told the story of a University of Oklahoma student that just would not take no for an answer… until he had to.

Last April, Jay Cooper, a petroleum engineering junior, was elected to serve his second term as vice president for the Housing Center Student Association. But, over the course of the summer, Cooper was removed from his position when a member of the HCSA administration realized his GPA did not meet the minimum requirement of a 2.5. Cooper believed he was treated unfairly because he raised his GPA over the summer and believed that since HCSA was not in full session until August, it should not have counted against him. When Cooper went to his advisers to discuss the situation at hand, they showed no signs of rethinking their decision. Cooper even tried to reapply for the position but the HCSA president did not accept his application or allow him an interview.

Although Associate Director of Residence Life, Johnnie-Margaret McConnell, gave Cooper 24 hours to resign before she removed him from office, he did not. McConnell had stated in an e-mail earlier in the year that officers serve from the time they are elected until the end of the next school year. Since Cooper did not meet the required GPA during the summer, McConnell had no choice but to remove him.

The President of HCSA, Hannah Moore, said the final decision was made by McConnell and there was nothing else that could have been done. Even after the decision was made, Cooper along with another member of HCSA, presented a bill to HCSA to overturn the decision, but that too failed. HCSA decided to elect Eddie Shimp, who was already elected to serve as programming director, as the new vice president for the 2009-2010 school year.

What Cooper is facing right now is a prime example of what happened to the characters in Who Moved My Cheese?" Cooper had already been a part of this organization for a year and had planned to spend another year, if not two, serving HCSA. His cheese was suddenly moved when he did not meet the grade requirement and was removed from his position. Although he did everything in his power to overturn the decision, he could not. Cooper must realize his "cheese" is gone and it is time to aspire for new and better cheese somewhere else. As the book says, "The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you find new cheese."

Photo taken by Teeko Yang of the Daily