Shared governance is one of the many distinguishing characteristics of quality in American higher education. As a result, students found their way into the governance structure at many institutions of higher education. No sector was exempt, as students became fairly common features of the landscape of board membership in both public and private, two-year and four-year institutions. Meanwhile, a recent AGB survey found that 14.9 percent of responding independent colleges and 13.3 percent of public institutions included at least one faculty member as a voting member of the board. In this article, the author discusses the important role of student and faculty member representative at the board in the success of shared governance at institutions. The author mentions that what lies behind their success and makes it replicable across the academy, he believes, is a powerful principle--one that actually is present on all high-functioning board as exemplified by the AGB study. The principle is that the Roosevelt student and faculty trustees are not representatives of, respectively, the student body and the faculty. They are full trustees as provided for by law on a board that prides itself on bringing a broadly diverse set of professional and personal perspectives to bear on university issues.