Sections

Leadership 1996

Where can students find direction?

"Lead: v. 1 a: to guide on a way esp. by going in advance; b: to direct on a course or in a direction; c: to serve as a channel for.

"Leader: a person who leads."

Since September, when President James J. Duderstadt announced his plans to resign at the end of June, regents and administrators have been absorbed in searching for his successor. In their struggle to put together a search process that would result in a credible person to fill Duderstadt's shoes, official leadership has been strangely inconsistent -- and students have been slow to fill the void.

In part, the regents' hesitancy has been to their credit. The search forums, headed by regental search co-chairs Shirley McFee (R-Battle Creek) and Nellie Varner (D-Detroit), have done an admirable job of allowing the community to express its views on the next leader.

However, despite their efforts to reach out to the community, the regents seem unable to formulate a coherent plan. They appointed a firm to help conduct the search, without any specific idea of exactly what the firm's role will be. Then -- after haggling for months about the meaning of the state's Open Meetings Act -- the regents announced that they will appoint an advisory committee to help with the search. On the surface, this is a positive step. But the committee's meetings will be -- surprise! -- closed.

And yesterday, shocking students and administrators alike, the regents unexpectedly appointed an interim president. Despite his relative anonymity, Vice President for Research Homer Neal is not a bad choice. He has received much respect as an administrator, and he will be the first African American to head the University -- a major step.

Neal may well prove to be an exemplary interim leader, but he has shown no interest in the permanent job. Thus efforts toward finding a new president must continue unchecked -- and they must take place in the open. By appointing an advisory committee, the board appears neatly to have sidestepped the Open Meetings Act. The act dictates that virtually all meetings among elected officials be open to the public. Since no regents will serve on the advisory committee, the board argues that the committee legally can close its meetings.

Whether or not the regents are within legal bounds, their actions violate the spirit of the Open Meetings Act. Even if the committee cannot eliminate candidates from the list, its recommendations presumably will carry considerable weight. Students have a right to observe the process by which those recommendations are made, to ensure a fair decision.

But would they, even if they could? In one sense, the regents hardly deserve blame for their actions. They have given students ample chance to express themselves, yet few have taken the opportunity. The student forum in December garnered a paltry turnout -- 50 students cannot represent the entire campus population.

Moreover, 50 students should not have to represent the entire campus population. The University is home to some of the brightest and most active college students in the nation. Yet when it comes to campus issues -- particularly those involving the University administration -- the vast majority are content to sit by and let the bureaucracy make decisions for them. Students complain about construction, about graduation requirements, about parking. They complain about a University that is impersonal and insensitive to undergraduate education. Yet how many students can name an administrator aside from Duderstadt? How many even know how Duderstadt's successor will be chosen?

If students are dissatisfied with campus life, they have few to blame but themselves. The University president is not directly responsible for campus events, but he or she is, in every sense, the University's leader. He or she guides the way, sets the direction, opens the channels.

It has been said that societies invariably obtain exactly the government they deserve. The principle holds as true for University students as for any state or nation. If students do not exhibit leadership of their own, leadership will be given to them. And it will inevitably take them down a path they do not want to travel.

Like other societies, the University community displays a delicate balance between the governors -- regents and administrators -- and the governed -- students. Each has a responsibility to contribute to that balance by respecting and soliciting the other's participation. The new University president, above all, should be an individual who understands that balance. Neither students nor the administration can lead the University alone. A working partnership is the best -- and perhaps only -- chance for success.