With the recent publication of former Wesleyan President Bill Chace’s memoir, we would like to take this opportunity once again to reflect on the upcoming presidential search to find a successor for Doug Bennet.
It seems all too easy to understand presidents through the prism of one characteristic—Bennet as the fundraiser out of touch with students, for example. What gets lost in that narrative is that presidents play multiple roles, as the respective face of the university to students, faculty, and the outside world.
This account is further obscured when considering Chace’s claim that the president at most any institution, Wesleyan included, has little true power in comparison to the Board of Trustees. Chace feels that the majority of the University’s board didn’t “know the school well” when he was here. Granted, time has passed since then and the Board membership is not the same. Chace’s observations, however, merit consideration.
Given the way the University’s administration is structured, the president is far more accountable to the trustees than to the students, who are actually affected by policy decisions. This is not something to which students are oblivious.
Unending red tape and excuses have eroded student faith in the workings of the administration. All the while, tuition has steadily risen above inflation, the responses to student concerns on a range of issues have been ignored or muddled, and a third of the faculty are actively upset over their salary allotments. None of these issues have been adequately explained or defended to us, the students.
We need a president who will realize that his or her most important role is as advocate of the students and faculty, who are—or at least should be—the reason for any university’s existence. As the visible embodiment of university policy, the president must be obliged to be responsive and accountable to the student community and additionally be willing to engage in honest and meaningful dialogue on broad campus issues.
Come on, Mr. President, talk to us. We’re willing to listen.
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