Penn State alumnus Benson Lichtig served as the Undergraduate Student Government president his junior year in 1971. In 1972, he became the first student appointed to the Penn State Board of Trustees by then-Gov. Milton Shapp.

Lichtig was not re-elected as Undergraduate Student Government (USG) president his senior year, partially because of student unrest over his board appointment.

This past summer, history repeated itself when Gov. Ed Rendell appointed USG President Galen Foulke as a student board member.

Foulke will serve on the board until 2008.

According to the USG Constitution, the "USG President shall act as the official student representative and delegate of the Undergraduate Student Government of the Pennsylvania State University at University Park to any and all such organizations ... "

Foulke said because he is a trustee, he must now represent students as well as administration, faculty and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania while serving on the board.

"When I'm a trustee I have to look at the big picture of the whole university," Foulke said.

At a meeting earlier this semester, Foulke deferred comment to USG Vice President Luke Adams on Penn State's plan to freeze tuition at 20 university campuses but not University Park.

The USG vice president assumes the president's power whenever he or she is unable to speak on an issue, and Foulke said Adams would be the student representative during board meetings.

"It's not a conflict of interest because I am not the USG representative to the trustees. [Adams] is filling that role," Foulke said. "When I am in a trustee meeting, I am a trustee. I don't wear two hats there."

He said it is "absurd" to think he can be at every place at once. By delegating powers to others, Foulke said he could maintain a "broad outreach to any and all interested student opinion."

Despite students' opposing opinions about his board position, Lichtig said he thinks it is possible for a student to serve as USG president and as a board member.

Lichtig said he represented students as the USG president, but his role on the board was broader because he represented both students and the best interests of the university as a whole.

Senate President Andy Banducci said the vice president is the student representative when the USG president is unable to speak due to conflict.

"Inside the Board of Trustees meetings [Foulke] is no longer the USG president," Banducci said. "Adams will speak."

Banducci said Foulke is in a difficult position because past USG presidents had non-voting seats at trustees meetings. Since Foulke is now a voting member, there is only one student who is speaking, which makes it a "difficult" position to put Foulke in, Banducci said.

Board Chair Cynthia Baldwin said she hoped Foulke's USG position would allow him to bring more issues to the board.

Town Sen. Mikhail Hutton said Foulke's roles as USG president and board member could possibly be a conflict.

"You can't always represent both sides of a team," Hutton said. "He has to keep in mind of the interests of who he is representing. You've got to make a decision of what's important to you."

Senate Vice President Alex Ibrahim said Foulke has the ability to understand student concerns as USG president and should take those concerns to the board as a trustee.

"On paper it looks like a conflict of interest," Ibrahim said. "Hopefully, it will work out for the best interests of the students."

Paula Ammerman, the board's office director, said no student board position is designated or provided for in the board's governing documents. Instead, she said student appointments evolved more than 30 years ago.

"By tradition, since the early 1970s the governor has used one of his appointment positions to appoint a student as a member of the Board of Trustees," Ammerman said. "That individual is the same as any other on the voting board."

Ammerman said the student trustee is one of the six appointed by the governor. She said typically, a student trustee has to be a Penn State student and serves a three-year term.

Abe Amoros, Rendell's spokesman, said Rendell appointed Foulke because he added quality to the board.

"With Galen, he saw that he was involved with university matters as USG president and has a firm understanding of the issues of the university," Amoros said.

Collegian staff writer Kathleen Haughney contributed to this article