Author: Gerry Maravilla
The search for the next Occidental president is well under way, almost a year after Susan Prager’s unexpected resignation. Although the head of the Presidential Search Committee and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, John Farmer, is confident that the selection process is progressing at an appropriate pace, some members of the Occidental community find the student body apathetic to the issue.
The committee, made up five members of the Board of Trustees, five faculty members, two students, one administrator and one representative of the administrative staff, is looking to hire a new president to begin a term commencing on July 1, 2009.
“Prager was a blip in the history of the college,” Farmer said. “If you look at Oxy’s history, its presidents’ have been known to stay with the college for the long term.”
As of Oct. 1, the college was looking at approximately 53 people in a pool of evaluation for the position. “Candidates were chosen out of the rolodexes of the college’s current president, Robert Skotheim, and the rolodex of the Chair of the Board of Trustees Dennis Collins,” Farmer said. “This number is neither big nor small, it is just the number of people we are looking at.”
Meetings have been held for the student body by Farmer in the Cushman Board Room. Held between 8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. earlier this month and last May. These meetings looked to inform student population on the status of the search.
“The administrators there [at the meeting] looked unfamiliar and there were few students,” Critical Theory and Social Justice major Jessica Nizar (senior) said. “I wasn’t expecting much from the meeting and, in the end, all the information that was provided was pretty vague.”Other students were unaware that such meetings had even taken place on campus.
“I don’t feel like the student body is being kept informed of the search,” Diplomacy and World Affairs major Roberto Calderon (senior) said. “The meetings held for students have been poorly publicized.”
Other committee members such as ASOC Student Body President Patrick McCredie, Dean of Students Barbara Avery and English and Comparative Literary Studies (ECLS) Professor Raul Villa declined to comment on the search for next president.
“I am the only person allowed to speak about the search for the next president,” Farmer said. “The committee wanted to make sure that there was one person, one speaker and one line of information in order to avoid the expression of agendas. That being said, I am open to students throughout the campus coming to me with their inquiries.”
Unlike previous years, the Presidential Search Committee is going about the process in three completely different ways. According to Farmer, rather than employ an independent search firm, the committee has come up with their own pool of candidates. It is preferred for applicants to meet face-to-face with the committee if they are to be considered as serious applicants for the position.
Finally, the committee is considering candidates outside of the realm of educational institutions. “We are not limiting our search,” Farmer said. “We have pursued possible people outside of traditional college deans.”
Nizar felt confused by the information provided at the search meeting. “Farmer said that the candidates represent diversity at Oxy,” she said, “but neither he, nor anyone at that meeting, really specified how.”
Despite comments made by students, Farmer remains confident about the search. “We will meet as a full committee next spring and run reference checks on all of the candidates,” Farmer said. “I feel very optimistic about the number of the high-quality candidates and applicants we have. Our nominees have expressed nothing but the highest esteem for Occidental and its mission.”
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