Throughout the semester, one member of Eastern’s campus community has stood out to us over and over again: Payton Ade.

Ade serves as the Executive Vice President for the Student Government and as the student trustee for the Board of of Trustees, oftentimes making them a focus in our coverage around campus.

Friday afternoon during the BOT meeting, Ade did something that stood out to our editorial board. They voted against a contract extension for University President David Glassman.

In the past, we at The Daily Eastern News have seen student trustees occasionally go against the grain, but never have we seen a student go so far to represent the student body in their vote.

Ade went out and talked to students and leaders of student organizations and made sure they were getting input directly from the student body to influence the way they voted on a very important issue.

With that action, they showed their dedication to the student body and to being a true representative of the people.

We at The News applaud Ade for their strength of character not only putting in the work and proving they care about the opinions of the student body on major university issues, but also by taking that information and deciding to go against the majority to stand with the opinions of students.

As they voted Friday afternoon, Ade proved that they are a dedicated student, a strong leader and a powerful figure for students to be able to count on in campus politics.

Eastern would benefit from a lot more people like Payton Ade in charge.