Telling me that UCLA is getting a new chancellor is a lot like
telling me that I’m getting new parents (though certainly far
less important): I’ve only known one (set of parents), and I
don’t get much of a choice.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things I want to
see in the new chancellor. A chancellor who could cure all of the
university’s woes would be fantastic. A chancellor who could
flatten the hills of the Westwood campus would be (quite literally)
divine. But a chancellor who makes some progress in improving
diversity, keeps the money rolling in, and advocates for students
from time to time would be realistic.
I know it’s realistic because I have seen it happen.
Carnesale led the university through its most prosperous
fundraising drive ever, and even interim Chancellor Abrams has
taken time to address the diversity crisis.
As for student advocacy, well, let’s take baby steps.
UCLA’s student body can sometimes be very divisive on student
issues, but there are a few no-brainers out there: Tackle the
rising cost of textbooks and I will be happy.
But maybe that is not enough for our new chancellor. While I
recognize that our university does much more than simply educate
some undergraduates, we are young and in our minds the world
revolves around each of us.
Make yourself available to and interested in the student body,
Mr. or Ms. New Chancellor: Walt Disney used to walk around
Disneyland picking up trash, and you should do the same at UCLA.
Well, maybe not trash ““ Walt did not have to wear a suit to
work like you do ““ but walk around, talk to students and
front-line employees, and make yourself a fixture on campus.
I know, I know. For every person who says that the chancellor
does not do enough for (insert issue/group), there is another who
says the chancellor doesn’t have any real authority. And to
be honest, I have no idea who wins that argument. But I do know
that, at the very least, the chancellor has the ear of whomever can
make a meaningful impact on student life.
I would use this space to tout my own issues, and talk
specifically about what I think the new chancellor should do to
address them. But I suffer from the double-whammy of being a
self-absorbed undergraduate (see above) and an independent
commissioner on the Undergraduate Students Association Council
without any slate issues on which the students elected me.
So instead, I will plead for the one issue that keeps me up at
night. As I have spent the last three months of my life planning
for Bruin Bash, I ask that the new chancellor take the time to
appreciate the need for a complete and holistic “college
experience” (read: send some money to Campus Events ““
the students will love you for it).
Bottom line: I don’t really know what to look for in a
chancellor. But if being a commissioner has taught me anything, it
is that whomever you hire, he or she must have passion for the job.
A good chancellor, regardless of his or her opinions, will be one
hired not because the job is a logical upward career move, or
because of an amazing pedigree of senior positions at top-tier
institutions, but because he or she has passion and the innate
desire to make things better, even when things aren’t so bad
to start with. After all, UCLA is a “New Ivy” now; how
bad can things be?
Dehar is the 2006-2007 USAC Campus Events commissioner. He
is a fourth-year English student.