Northeastern students are not your typical students. We pride ourselves on being unique, choosing the path less traveled, and striving for success.

More than typical students, Northeastern students understand that the world was not fed to us on a silver spoon and we have to make it in life for ourselves. I only seek to educate you on the virtues of the Northeastern student because you must have forgotten them if you allowed the perfect counterpart to a Northeastern student, Dean Jim Stellar, to retire without more of a fight.

Stellar was as unique as his students. He helped us navigate the path less traveled and knew that just because we had to make it for ourselves, it did not mean we would have to make it by ourselves. As a May 2007 graduate of the College of Business and an engaged student leader, there have been times that I have been disappointed in Northeastern’s decisions. I was Student Government Association vice president for student affairs, Council for University Programs president, and a Resident Assistant for two years. I often came down on the opposing side of the administration; however, for the first time I feel that I am less likely to continue donating and less likely to continue supporting my alma mater. I am outraged by the blatant disregard for students’ well-being.

The official story is that Stellar is on sabbatical and that he will return in a year as a full-time professor of psychology. Although further probing of this story would be fruitless, those of us who knew him know that he was not one to leave a project unfinished. Rather, Stellar was the type of leader who, through his constant dedication and selflessness, inspired his faculty and even us students to challenge ourselves and the university to be better. He was as innovative in his approaches to fundraising as he was in his applications of experiential education with his famous “Dean Stellar’s Lab.” He was the first to tout our successes, empathize with us in our defeats and, as clich’eacute; as it sounds, he never stopped believing in our potential.

Stellar did not consider himself superior to his students. He made it a point to treat us as peers, as academic colleagues. It was evident from his actions that students were the reason for everything he did and the reason it was done so well. That leaves the question of what the university’s motivation could have possibly been when they let him leave with so much left unfinished. Unlike the leadership of Stellar, the decisions could not have been made with the students in mind. The fact that he was allowed to depart at the beginning of a school year is a sign of poor leadership.

– Allyson Savin is a 2007 alum and former Student Government Association vice president for student affairs and Council for University Programs president