The second Dean of the College candidate, Maria Cruz-Saco, met with a small group of students Monday for the second of two student-candidate forums. The meeting was part of a busy day for Cruz-Saco, the current Interim Dean of Connecticut College, who underwent a series of administrative interviews that morning in addition to various meetings with Wesleyan faculty and the WSA.

The WSA voted on Sunday to have an online poll in order to gather student opinion on the two candidates. The poll is currently up, and the information gathered will be submitted to the Search Committee, which will relay it to Bennet on Wednesday.

Contrary to the standard format, Cruz-Saco started the session by posing a question to the students. She asked what it was that students expected from the Dean of the College and said that she first wanted to get a sense of students’ opinions.

“I think the dean should be the voice of the students and help us know the avenues we need to go through when we want to get things done,” said Naja Alvarado ’05. “I feel like it’s the role of the Dean of the College to find out what we need and what we want.”

Responding to Cruz-Saco’s request for more specifics, Bec Straley ’07 cited issues like gender-neutral housing policy.

“[We want] representation [from a candidate] who’s not afraid to take stands on controversial issues and who’s willing to take some risks, [a candidate who’s] willing to say, ‘This is what we’re fighting for,’ I think that’s the important thing.”

When asked by Emily Meyer ’05 if she would speak against the Administration if they disagreed with students, Cruz-Saco noted the importance of understanding on both sides.

“First, if it’s a demand, I need to truly understand what the grounds are for it,” Cruz-Saco said. “[I would] ask to see in what way we can, as the Administration, respond to that particular demand. So it’s communication [that] is crucial.”

She referenced the “shared dominance” structure of governance that is currently in place at Connecticut College, made up of 3 constituencies: the students, faculty, and staff. All three groups negotiate to come to agreement on critical issues. In this structure, a proposal is suggested by students, then it is approved by student leadership, and finally by the faculty.

“I would hope that most of the highly sensitive issues can go through this due process,” Cruz-Saco said.

Ana Weibgen ’05 asked, “Would you support there being more student voting power in some of the decisions that directly affect them, including issues like gender-neutral housing and safe spaces for students of color?”

In response, Cruz-Saco described some cases in which voting should be used, but stressed that a majority decision would almost always leave some students unhappy.

“On larger items I think that the search for consensus is appropriate as much as possible, but there are cases where you can’t avoid using voting,” Cruz-Saco said. “[In general] it’s best to work through all the details [and] try to come to a decision that’s broadly approved.”

Unlike fellow candidate Billy Weitzer, Cruz-Saco has never worked at Wesleyan University. For students, this can either be seen as an asset or a liability.

“I think that one of the reasons that she stood out for me as opposed to Billy Weitzer is that she’s coming from outside of Wesleyan, and I feel like she could really invigorate the Administration,” said Michael Andolina ’05. “The fact that she’s been the Dean of [Connecticut] College for two years and already has experience under her belt is also a real factor.”

Recognizing her lack of Wesleyan experience, she posed another question to students, asking how exactly they participate in University governance and what problems they think are not being adequately addressed.

“You’d mentioned having safe spaces in the classroom,” said Kristy Mercado ’05. “Right now there’s plans for diversity training for faculty that are optional, but professors who need training the most don’t go.”

To respond to this problem, Cruz-Saco gave examples like the center for faculty endowment and service learning as ways that she dealt with the problem on her own campus.

“I believe in community learning, and when you bring community voices into the classroom, I believe it’s beneficial,” she said. “Learning is a two-way venue; it is both [the] faculty and students that need to be engaged, and it takes place outside the classroom as well.”

She also cited the new University Center as an example of one of the places that should be available as a place of learning and positive interactions for students.

Cruz-Saco declined an interview with the Argus.