A Presidential Search Committee has formed for the first time in over a decade to discuss the search for Doug Bennet’s successor. Patrick Senat ’08 has recently joined WSA Vice President Brittany Mitchell ’07 as a fellow student representative on the committee. Together they exercise what Mitchell called an equal voice with the non-student members.
Despite Mitchell’s view, WSA President Zach Kolodin ’07 and others have lobbied for more student representation on the committee, first in a meeting last May and then in a letter in June. These requests were denied in a letter from trustee leadership, Kolodin said.
Once the committee has completed its search, it will send its recommendation for president to the Board of Trustees, which will make the final decision, according to the presidential search website.
Senat and Mitchell are two of 18 committee members, including five faculty members—Chair of the Sociology Department Alex Dupuy, Professor of Russian Language and Literature Susanne Fusso, Professor of Biology Laura Grabel, Professor of Psychology Ruth Striegel-Moore and Chair of the Classical Studies Department Andrew Szegedy-Maszak.
Committee meetings will remain confidential to ensure that presidential candidates are not discouraged from applying due to worries over current job security, Mitchell said.
“As the meeting approaches, please think about Wesleyan’s past and your hopes for its future,” wrote Appenteng in a campus-wide email. “President Doug Bennet’s leadership has strengthened the University considerably during the past eleven years, and the Presidential Search Committee is seeking to build upon this momentum.”
The committee will host two open forums today, one from 10:30-11:30 A.M. in the Woodhead Lounge and another from 2:00-3:00 P.M. in PAC 001 to gauge student opinion on the search for the University’s sixteenth president.
Students have an integral role in the search process, according to Senat.
“Our university is facing many challenges, and we need to make sure that students have the opportunity for participation, leadership and activism,” Senat said. “Being part of the Presidential Search Committee is an example of that.”
Mitchell noted the uniqueness of Wesleyan’s presidential search.
“It’s not a traditional thing for students to sit on a presidential search committee,” Mitchell said. “If students weren’t there, the Board might select someone who is perfectly qualified for the job but not aware of the needs of Wesleyan’s active student body.”
The committee’s structure remains the same as it was during at least the last two presidential searches. Mitchell was entitled to a spot on the search committee under the WSA constitution. After soliciting written applications and interviewing 15 candidates, the WSA Executive Committee selected Senat as the second student representative.
“It was a tough decision between several good candidates,” Mitchell said. “We discussed the issue for about two hours in the Executive Committee.”
Senat is liaison to the New York State Senate, co-director of the Traverse Square after-school program, chair of the African American Studies Majors’ Committee, and member of the varsity football team.
Seeking to provide the perspectives of current students to the search, Senat said he feels blessed to be a part of the search committee.
A recent campus-wide email from Mitchell said that the committee’s main goal in the near future is to solicit student ideas about the president’s job description. She also said that the she and Senat are committed to engaging other students’ about their opinions.
“We will keep you in the loop throughout the process and will provide as many avenues as possible for you to give us your input,” she wrote in the email. “Of course, you are always welcome e-mail both of us (bmitchell@wesleyan.edu and psenat@wesleyan.edu) with questions, concerns and suggestions.”
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