President Bennet has visited several residences on campus during the past few months, inviting students to discuss current University events in a rare, candid dialogue. His stops so far have included WestCo, the Fauver Apartments, and Alpha Delt.
On Monday, Nov. 20, Bennet met with students who live in Lo-Rise and Hi-Rise in the Hi-Rise lounge. About 20 students attended the almost two-hour conversation. Bennet opened the dialogue by encouraging the room to raise any concerns or questions that it had and suggesting a starting point.
“I would love to talk about everything or anything,” Bennet said. “There may be parts of [the Board of Trustees] that seem mysterious. I don’t think that anybody has a terrific idea of what the Board does.”
Students, rather, geared the conversation toward the presidential search.
“From my point of view, the person’s sense of leadership has got to not be directive,” Bennet responded. “The leadership means having your own sense of direction, but tempering that with listening carefully, in this case, to students and faculty and the Board. It’s a complex interaction.”
Jacob Mirsky ’08 raised the point that former President of the United States Bill Clinton has been nominated for the open position. Bennet said that some political experience is good and that, while the Presidential Search Committee is considering each nomination, he finds a nominees’ academic models particularly important. For example, he said, a previous university provost would have the academic experience and leadership appropriate to the presidential position.
“What does the institution mean right now?” Bennet asked rhetorically, identifying an important question that the search committee must consider in its decision-making. “I’ve speculated a lot about what the Wesleyan student culture is. It has to be one that accommodates a lot of people with a lot of different perspectives.”
More controversial strains of the dialogue arose when students raised concerns about the recent acts of intolerance on campus and the University’s financial activities.
To address acts of intolerance, Bennet expressed optimism for the new Campus Climate, a web site that will record acts of intolerance within the University and the community’s efforts to counter them. He also discussed Danny Teraguchi, the University’s first Dean for Diversity and Academic Advancement, as well as the efforts of Dean of the College Maria Cruz-Saco to foster tolerance.
“I think that the professionalism of our abilities and what Danny is handling have vastly increased,” he said. “Ms. Cruz-Saco has not only created that capacity, but applied it on campus.”
Despite the administration’s efforts against intolerance of any prejudiced form on campus, Bennet shared a sincere moment with his listeners in reacting to the recent rise in racist graffiti and homophobic verbal harassment.
“I thought that we could be an oasis with really special values, but I think the truth is that we’re all going to have to work on this for the rest of our lives,” he said.
When Emily Einhorn ’08, an RA in Hi-Rise, asked Bennet what he considers his greatest accomplishment from the past 12 years, he focused on his successful fundraising program.
“It’s not because the Bennets went out and asked for it,” he said. “It’s because we had a plausible plan for it, and confidence. All of the asking from that campaign was done by volunteers.”
Due to the University’s increased resources over the past several years, Bennet said, Admissions has been able to sustain a need-blind policy and the faculty has hired 20 new members, lowering the faculty-student ratio to 9:1.
When Aparna Iyer ’08 asked why the University has one of the lowest faculty salaries within its group of peer institutions, noting the caucus that more than 100 faculty members recently formed to fight for raises, Bennet directly denied the claim.
“They’re simply not right,” he said, adding, “Our specification on the hiring of faculty is to never lose one because of cost.”
Bennet also said that the University maintains a commitment to affirmative action within both the student body and the faculty and staff, despite several students’ accusations of the University failing to hire a Dean for Affirmative Action and the decreasing number of faculty-of-color.
Attendees said afterwards that the more argumentative points in the conversation were due to poor communication between Bennet and students.
“There were some issues where President Bennet and some students didn’t see eye-to-eye,” said Evan Bluestein ’08.
“The communication was at times a little dubious, I thought,” echoed Sadie Hays ’08. “Seeing as how it was a dialogue, there were a lot of parties involved.”
Still, Hays said that she appreciated Bennet’s interest and sincerity.
“He made good eye contact, he really tried to listen,” she said. “I think that’s a pretty clear offering. I thought this was a good program that hopefully will be emulated by the president that follows.”
“I was satisfied with his answers,” Bluestein agreed. “I felt that he was candid.”
Bennet closed the conversation by thanking the students sitting with him.
“I think it allows to do different things and to think different things,” he said of his visits to dorms. “I appreciate the input…it’s helps me with my bearings on the issues that are important to the campus.”
Bennet told the Argus that he has enjoyed meeting with so many students.
“I’m going to miss this part of the job, and it’s the part that’s least replicable,” he said. “I guess in retirement I’m going to sit on my porch and think big thoughts but I’ll never have that interaction with students.”