As the University searches for the ideal Dean of the College, the committee responsible for finding this person appears to have student interests as its guiding force. In addition to having students on the search committee, Peter Patton, the Interim Dean of the College, said the new Dean will “serve in a regulatory wing between the faculty and the students.” The stated goal is to find someone who is able to work with various components of the campus to make sure the collective student voice is heard. Just as importantly, the search process is being made in a deliberate manner. These steps are all very promising.
In order to make an appropriate appointment to the office in its new form, the search committee must think about what Wesleyan symbolizes. Our next Dean needs to be able to get beyond the rhetoric that the office has offered in its campus wide e-mails and in its mission statement. The Dean of the College at a dynamic University like ours needs to do two things: actively listen to and actively fight for students.
Change should always be at the forefront of a Dean’s mind, so progressive activism should be requisite on any viable candidate’s record. This person must understand and be able to talk openly about queer issues, students of color issues, diversity issues and freedom of expression. In the most recent re-accreditation process, our general lack of communication between students and administrators was glaringly exposed. To rectify this situation, our next Dean must have the will and means to open channels of communication and be an effective ally to students. This person needs to act more as a liaison between the dorms and North College and less as a bureaucrat who reaches out from within the Administration, as Dean Hill was known to do.
The students have a tool for change in the WSA; the new Dean of the College must be the constructive editor and persuasive speaker that can give these ideas merit.
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