Kennel Club has been a much-debated topic recently among Gonzaga students. In her article "The Kennel Club has Lost Its Teeth," Natalie Rogers calls the club "poorly organized." If the claims in her op-ed are true, Kennel Club should respond. However, I want to address an issue equally important and related to the club's efficacy: how the organization is structured. I will explain why Kennel Club should be operated like a corporation to create further accountability and transparency.
Corporate directors are accountable to their shareholders because they are elected. In this case, the shareholders are students who pay to become members and the board members are directors. Kennel Club, on the other hand, allows outgoing board members to select new ones in a process that remains unclear. Why is that acceptable for anyone with money invested in the club? Why would a shareholder forgo their right to elect board members? Do you give up your rights for no compensation? I don't and I have failed to realize any compensation for forgoing my right. Students are paying to join and should, therefore, expect the right to oversee their vested interest by voting members onto the board.
The status quo is unacceptable if you accept that people act based on incentives. The board has no incentive to perform their jobs well because they receive the same benefits regardless of performance. That's not how the system works anywhere else, especially when managing sizable budgets. Why is Kennel Club an exception?
Clearly, the lack of incentives for board members has affected the overall quality of the club, especially the issue I care about the most: bar tabs. For example, the last bar tab I attended, I waited in line for more than 30 minutes to get a pitcher of beer in the Bulldog. Why is the board not demanding the Bulldog hire more staff during bar tabs or get more pitchers? If that can't be done, why can't the club have a bar tab at Jack and Dan's also? There is no excuse because the club has considerable leverage with the business it brings to the Bulldog. If the Bulldog denies club demands for better service, take business elsewhere. Where is the business mindset of the board so we can drink more beer faster at bar tabs? I probably wouldn't have written this op-ed if the beer issue had been addressed. College students are not difficult to please if beer keeps flowing.
Students will only be satisfied with Kennel Club again when it changes how it operates. If the board believes my ideas of making the board more transparent and accountable are unreasonable, I challenge them to write a response op-ed. No response further proves my point the board is not accountable to its members.
Austin Johnson is a senior.
is a member of the 
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