A hat draw decided the fate for student trustee Craig McFarland of the University of Illinois at Springfield campus, determining that he would receive the binding student vote on the University of Illinois’ Board of Trustees.

Each year, one of the three campus’ student trustees is given the legally binding vote by the sitting Illinois governor. The student trustee with the binding vote is allowed to vote as a part of the nine-member board, but the other two students’ votes count as advisory votes.

In October, student trustee James Winters from the Chicago campus was appointed the binding vote by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, However, after Winters’ resignation Feb. 17, it was necessary for a new trustee to receive the appointment.

Michelle Thompson, secretary of the Board of Trustees, said in the event that the student with the binding vote resigns, the governor must appoint one of the two remaining student trustees the vote.

Following Winters’ resignation, Urbana student trustee Paul Schmitt and McFarland approached Gov. Pat Quinn and asked him to appoint the binding vote; but he asked them to figure it out together.

The hat draw was organized by Thompson and took place in the Board office Tuesday where trustee David Dorris drew McFarland’s name.

“Both of us felt comfortable with each other having the vote,” McFarland said. “While we were both comfortable, we both wanted it.”

McFarland said he was pleased to have the binding vote, and realized the big responsibility it includes.

“You always want the vote because you feel you can do a lot of good with it,” Schmitt said.

Schmitt said he is confident in McFarland, and the two are in an agreement that McFarland will listen to his concerns on issues related to the Urbana campus.

Both trustees agreed that the decision was made fairly.

“Basically deciding by a game of chance was the most fair way to do it,” Schmitt said.

After McFarland’s name was drawn, the chairman of the Board, Niranjan Shah, drafted a letter to Quinn asking him to designate the binding vote before next week’s meeting.

“The state stature says the governor will make the designation,” Thompson said. “Until the governor makes the designation, the appointment will not be official.”

Replacing Winters will be Elias Pittos. He was appointed by administrative officials on the Chicago campus. McFarland is a senior in Political Science on the Springfield campus, and is originally from Moline, Ill.

Before being elected student trustee he was involved in other aspects of student politics on campus. He said after graduating he would like to get involved on a legal staff and possibly work in Springfield, Ill.

While it was an unconventional move on Quinn’s part to ask McFarland and Schmitt to decide who would get the binding vote, McFarland said the idea makes sense because the decision is free from political bias.

“Having the choice to do it 50-50 is much more fair,” McFarland said.