On a campus of 14,000 undergraduates, the idea of one making a decision that affects them all is odd. The decision to not include the other 13,999 is just plain stupid.
Not for nothing, when you’ve been asked to represent the student body, it might come in handy to actually consider the student body. That’s not the case for Peter Kunzel, the sophomore criminal justice major handpicked by Northeastern higher-ups to provide the lone student voice on the Presidential Search Committee. Kunzel’s job is to find a replacement for Richard Freeland when he steps down after this year.
This may come as a shock to the apathetic among us, but a new President is kind of a big deal. If you don’t think so, remember your Ludacris at Springfest ticket stub. Oh right. You don’t have one, because Freeland canceled that concert.
The new President will be making the decisions on tuition, hiring of professors and increasing alumni endowment, all relevant to undergrads. Oh yeah, and he will be spearheading that new football stadium being paid for out of your wallets.
Despite the pandemic of apathy inherent among Northeastern undergrads, there are indeed some students who would like to see changes made. Most notably is the Student Government Association (SGA), a group of students whose primary focus is shaping the university with the students in mind. The issues they’ve fought for (lowering tuition, improving student life, etc.) are precisely the values that should go into deciding our new President.
Another source for Kunzel are minority student groups, namely the Black Student Association, Latin American Student Organization, the Asian Student Union and the Islamic Society, among others. At a school notorious for having a poor percentage of tenured minority professors, wouldn’t their voices help make a difference?
Or just consult with the student body in general, the athletes, the academic groups, the people in sororities and fraternities or even ordinary West Village Joe watching “Family Guy” in his NU Shuffle tee.
Would it be completely unreasonable for Kunzel to consider these people? Not all 14,000 of course, but a little more than one sophomore criminal justice major could be helpful.
You probably have no idea who Peter Kunzel is. And you’re not alone. It’s certainly for the best that a regular student was chosen and not SGA President Ashley Adams or Council of University Programs President Amanda Zoglio, but that doesn’t mean they should be kept in the dark.
Kunzel was quoted in last week’s News saying he doesn’t consider himself a representative of 14,000 students, but the administrators who picked him do, and the student body does as well.
The Search Committee made a shortsighted decision in selecting only one student representative, but Kunzel has the opportunity to give the students a legitimate voice in the process.
Unless of course he could care less about the students, at which point he’s spent way too much time with the administration already.
