Let’s face it. Most students at Northeastern don’t know the Vice President of Student Affairs from the fitness trainer at the Marino Center.

But this one is important. This position, filled by Karen Rigg for the past 14 years, will become vacant at the end of August. As of now, the university has not found a replacement, but has shown its dedication by actively searching for a new VP.

This may not seem important to Joe Co-ed, but the position held so well by Rigg for the past decade and a half, is one that is very important to the student body.

Rigg is the link between the students and the administration. She advocates, and is an advocate for students’ rights and needs. For example, Rigg is partially responsible for the current look of the student center, which was not always as aesthetically pleasing as it is today. She is also one of the key players that made sure the Curry Student Center became the “living room” of the university. And she is notorious for allowing students to push for their dreams, and never considering their ideas to be impossible.

So to reiterate, she was very important to the student body, and the university will not be able to just hand any John or Jane Doe this position.

A search committee interviewed three candidates for the position, and no unanimous decision was reached. One candidate, William Zeller, formally of the University of Michigan, was singled out from the original group, but two student committee members told The News that they were unsure of his stance on advocacy.

Philomena Mantella, Senior Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, could have easily turned a deaf ear to the students and appointed Zeller, but instead has invited three additional candidates to meet with the search committee.

Mantella is once again showing her leadership ability and her commitment to the student body as Rigg had for so long. The students can only hope that the person found to fill the big shoes of Rigg, can only be as dedicated as Mantella.