Our history has seen 28 Chancellors and Presidents come and go at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Among them include some of the most forward thinkers of our time and many of this state’s best public servants. Among them also include the forgettable and the forgotten—those whose impact left little to be remembered.
And now, we begin the search for the university’s next leader. By next summer, if all goes according to plan, UW-Madison will have selected a new Chancellor. This is an incredibly important opportunity for the future of the university and public higher education as a whole. Our university desperately needs an outstanding Chancellor that unites us with a bold vision, and prevents this institution from falling into stagnation and mediocrity.
It’s important to keep in mind that the selection of a status quo leader will result in nothing better than a status quo university. And this university we love has never aimed for the status quo. The right individual for this position must have a few key qualifications, and if the search fails to deliver a candidate who upholds these characteristics, the results could be devastating.
We need a true leader. The position of Chancellor is not reserved for administrative puppets. We need a Chancellor who is dedicated to this institution and shows a broader dedication to public higher education.
We need a loyal public servant. The university and the state cannot afford a continual revolving door of leadership. We must install an individual who takes their unending passion and translates that into a long-term stay. Olin House deserves to be a home, not an apartment up for rent every few years.
We need a defender. The next Chancellor of this university must stand up to those who do not value higher education and fight for our students, our faculty and the people in this state who benefit from what we do on this campus. In doing so, compromise will be necessary and they must be a friend who can work in partnership with the State and the Board of Regents. But never shall we be more disappointed than to sing ‘Varsity’ in dedication to a university led by a Chancellor who stands aside when debate arises.
We need a consensus-builder. Someone who not only has a dynamic vision, but communicates it often, transparently and engagingly to students, faculty and the state. Someone who can connect with students as well as Wisconsin taxpayers. Someone who is in their element whether talking to professors or state legislators.
In many ways, we dream of a candidate with the intelligence, charisma, vision and political courage of former Chancellor Biddy Martin, but with some exceptions. Martin, for all of her positive attributes, sometimes forgot the unique culture and values that make up Wisconsin and its flagship university. She pushed reforms that further dissociated the University from the state whose mission it is to serve. She didn’t communicate convincingly or transparently on her major initiatives. And when things got tough, she moved to greener and easier pastures, a choice that the authors of this column view with both sympathy and disappointment.
Yes, the Chancellor holds an important administrative function, but we also need a strong academic intellectual. Non-traditional candidates are all very well, but we should keep in mind the first purpose of the university: to educate. Rather than consider CEOs and politicians with superficial understanding of education, or limit the final pool to provosts, deans or administrators, we urge the Search Committee seek someone with both academic depth and public-minded charisma enough to rally the state and inspire a vision for the future of public higher education at the national level.
Like many of you, we have a deep commitment to UW-Madison and the role it was created to fulfill. We have many worries over the possibility that this University might lose what makes it so special and beloved.
We hope that every UW-Madison student, faculty member, and citizen takes this issue to heart. Consider what you want to see in your ideal Chancellor candidate. Write to the Search Committee and share concerns and feedback with them. Attend the forums with the candidate finalists. Be open-minded, but speak up loud and clear when you see the ideals and values of our great university threatened. There is too much at stake here to excuse anyone sitting on the sidelines. This is our chance to make sure we select a truly great leader for our university.
The Iron Cross Society is a secret society founded in 1902. Comprised of students, we work to better the great University of Wisconsin and defend its values when others take aim.
