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Student leaders at Ohio State University kicked off the fall semester with an effort to boot Brian Hicks, Gov. Bob Taft’s former chief of staff, from the school’s board of trustees.

During the summer break, Mr. Hicks was convicted of state ethics violations and fined $1,000. The Republican powerbroker, who now runs a Columbus lobbying firm, improperly reported below-market-rate vacations at Tom Noe’s Florida Keys home in 2002 and 2003.

Nick Benson, speaker of the University Student Government Senate, said an undergraduate with a comparable ethical lapse, such as cheating on a test or plagiarizing a term paper, would be forced to leave school.

“It sets a bad precedent when students are held to one standard and the leaders of our university are held to different standards,” he said.

A resolution calling for Mr. Hicks to resign from the board of trustees will be introduced to a senate committee tomorrow, Mr. Benson said. If the committee approves the resolution, the undergraduate student government would vote on it Oct. 12.

Governor Taft appointed Mr. Hicks, an Ohio State alumnus and past student body president, to the board in 2004.

Even if the resolution passes the student government and later clears the University Senate, which is composed of students and faculty members, only Mr. Hicks or his fellow trustees can decide whether resigning is appropriate, Mr. Benson said.

The movement appears to have drawn little opposition from campus conservatives.

Steve Miller, the political science major who designed www.hicksmustgo.com, is a Republican from Los Angeles. Other GOP Ohio State students agree that Mr. Hicks should step down.

“I think that it makes sense for Mr. Hicks to vacate his position,” said Matt Kocsan, president of the College Republicans. “Personally, I think it might be better for the Republican party. He’s a pinata right now and you can’t hit a pinata if it’s not there.”

Also yesterday, State Senate Minority Leader C.J. Prentiss (D., Cleveland) wrote the governor asking that he extend the new, tougher limits on campaign contributions at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation to the rest of the state. She also reiterated calls for a bipartisan committee “like Watergate” to investigate the bureau’s recent investment scandals, which include the failed $50 million rare-coin funds managed by Mr. Noe.

Mark Rickel, a spokesman for Mr. Taft, said the governor’s office had yet to receive the state senator’s letter. He emphasized that the governor remains committed to full disclosure of campaign finances and believes the current laws are appropriate.

Concerning the governor’s former chief-of-staff, Mr. Rickel said it is Mr. Hicks’ choice whether he should resign from the OSU board, not the governor’s decision.

Contact Joshua Boak at:jboak@theblade.com or 419-724-6050.

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