At the WSA meeting held last night, President Bennet and students discussed how the new dean of the College would play a crucial role in deciding whether Wesleyan needs a multicultural dean. President Bennet made clear that he would be relying heavily on the new Dean to analyze and improve breakdowns in communication and transparency between the administration and students. Students on the search committee for the new dean, the WSA and President Bennet have all called for students to submit their opinions on the dean candidates via e-mail to President Bennet or the WSA poll. The new poll will allow students to confidentially give their recommendations to student representatives who are bound to pass that information on to Bennet when he makes his final decision. This is a chance for students’ voices to be heard in a decision that will have a major impact on students’ lives and the direction of Wesleyan.
We wanted to offer an update for students who were unable to attend candidate Maria Cruz-Saco’s open meeting with students at noon on Monday. At the meeting, Cruz-Saco acknowledged the difficulties of creating a sense of community at a school with such a heterogenous population, recognizing that faculty, staff and students often disagree about who should have the most control over University policy and campus life. However, she seemed genuinely committed to making Wesleyan a place in which a liberal ideology is more than lip service, but is, instead, a part of day-to-day-life. As she put it, “It is important that we walk the way we are talking… So, let’s begin.”
Cruz-Saco began the meeting by asking students what they want out of the new Dean of the College – a solicitation of student concerns that happens far too infrequently under the current administration. Responding to questions about the lack of student voice in administrative decisions, Cruz-Saco neither promised changes she would not be able to deliver, nor pushed students aside. Instead, in this response and throughout the meeting, she drew on her experience as the interim dean of Connecticut College and outlined new ways in which all sectors of the Wesleyan community could meaningfully engage. Briefly describing Connecticut College’s “system of shared governance, where the 3 constituencies–students, faculty and staff… negotiate to come to agreement on critical, as well as very specific items,” Cruz-Saco seemed open to the idea of more genuine involvement by students in the decisions that affect their lives. By Cruz-Saco’s vision, this increase in student participation would not create a system whereby the voices of students dominated all others – a concern voiced by President Bennet and other administrators – but would, instead, be part of a larger move toward the creation of a community in which all voices are heard and respected.
Responding to student questions about safe spaces, Cruz-Saco noted, “In my mind, a safe space is an environment in which we can all be free… A safe space is not just a location, but it should be an educational enterprise overall: the classroom, the cafeteria… and that’s the only way how we can really engage in a liberal arts education… How is anyone going to be able to speak [hir] mind if they’re threatened…?”
Cruz-Saco is a woman of color with experience working in the multicultural center of a university and, even in this short forum, made clear her complex, critical understanding of the sensitive needs of marginalized student groups on campus. Cruz-Saco engaged students with genuine respect, concern, and commitment to understanding the needs of students and faculty at Wesleyan. As an outsider, Cruz- Saco has a perspective that allows her to imagine possibilities outside of what has previously existed at Wesleyan. If the vision for Wesleyan that she espoused in this brief meeting is any indicator of concrete change that Cruz-Saco could enact, Wesleyan University would be well-served to have her as the new Dean of the College.
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