Brehm celebrates one year

Particularly upbeat after an extraordinarily smooth meeting with Dean of Students Richard McKaig and Dean of Faculties Moya Andrews Thursday morning, in which they discussed the progress of the Benton mural initiatives, Chancellor Sharon Brehm declared "the hardest part of administration is getting the meeting."\nIndeed. Brehm's schedule is one meeting after another. One might imagine that if it were not for the large oriental-style rug, the sound of administrative terms like "strategic planning" and "new initiatives" and the seemingly endless talk of committees and subcommittees would perpetually echo off the wood floors of her spacious Bryan Hall office. \nNo one would argue there is a shortage of beautiful talk at IU. Wasn't it Dostoevskii's underground man who said it was the inescapable fate of all intelligent people to chatter away aimlessly, filling empty glasses from empty bottles? \nBrehm, however, said she made listening, not talking, a main priority in her first year as chancellor. She cited this strategy as a way to get acquainted with her new role.\n"I did, in fact, listen," Brehm said, reaffirming a statement she made last July. "It was a real opportunity for me to learn a lot about the campus and I enjoyed it thoroughly."\n"I think she has been very accessible and has really responded to the students' interests," McKaig said. "I am very impressed with the way she learned the IU systems. Everyone knows this is not an easy system to learn. It is very complex because of all the programs. It takes more than one year." \nIn a recent meeting with representatives from several departments, Brehm actually refrained from speech for the majority of the two hour meeting, which was called to discuss ways to use the $28 million of potential revenue from the recent $1,000 tuition hike. While academics filled the air with beautiful, well-developed arguments, Brehm sat quietly, jotting down notes and occasionally squinting her eyes and turning away when an argument struck a dissonant chord with her. \nWithout doubt, Chancellor Brehm's first year has been punctuated by exciting, controversial and, unfortunately, tragic events. On Sept. 11, shortly after her first semester began, terrorists flew 767's into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon. Students gathered around televisions on campus and in their homes, watching, in horror, as the surreal events unfolded. Brehm was in a meeting when she learned of the tragedy, though it was still unclear what had happened.\n"It was just hard to grasp," Brehm said. "We were all struggling to figure out what had happened."\nAs the surreal became real, administrators held emergency meetings, in which they decided to not cancel classes. Brehm, who visited students in residence halls that evening, said classes gave students an opportunity to escape the terrifying images the media was broadcasting.\nBrehm also noted that while the events were certainly tragic, they did serve to bring the campus together.\n"I think that event happened so early after I had come here that it created a certain type of bond between me and the students that would not have been created otherwise," Brehm said. \nThis year's IUSA elections, which later became a controversy in their own right, placed the spotlight on IU's alcohol policies, as many parties adopted platforms opposing the University's rules. Brehm was cautious when addressing the role of the University as moral watchdog, saying she was uncertain when authoritive action would be made but said she hoped to involve students in the decision making process. \n"We want to create an environment where students feel free to say 'no' or say 'enough,'" Brehm said. "There is huge peer pressure for students to drink and to drink a lot."\nAdministrators, notorious for their strategic ambiguity, are often put to the test when controversy arrives and decisive action becomes necessary. For Brehm, who certainly has some diplomatic qualities, that opportunity arose when controversy again surrounded over the Thomas Hart Benton mural, located in Woodburn Hall, over the artists depiction of Klu Klux Klan members burning a cross. After weeks of discussion, Brehm decided that mural would remain in Woodburn Hall.\nIn an effort to dampen the effect the mural may have on students, Brehm has launched a full-on public relations campaign on behalf of the mural that will leave even the most politically correct unoffended. The campaign includes videos, an enlarged and more informative plaque and guest lectures that will explain the history and importance of the mural. \n"We can't go through a Benton mural controversy every five years," Brehm said in a Thursday morning meeting. "That's no good for anybody." \nThroughout the year, Brehm has been plagued by the challenge of doing more with less, a result of the state budgetary crisis. She said the University has cut down on the administrative budget and used cash savings from the previous year in order to absorb budget cuts, which amounted to a half a percent cut in state appropriation.\n"We made a pledge early on that we would do everything we could to protect the academic mission," Brehm said. "We took the cuts in areas other than academics." \nUndoubtedly, many students see IU as an insatiable sponge, which goes about soaking up students' money even beyond graduation, but Brehm maintains the University is a model of budgetary efficiency. However, she warned that an economic downturn could be put the school in a difficult position. \n"We're living on the edge," Brehm said. "There are limits to how much more you can do with less." \nThis summer Brehm herself was surrounded by controversy when she was accused of suggesting shredding and altering dean evaluations while at Ohio University. Emitting an unconvincing laugh, she quickly denounced the accusations, stating she in no way violated the spirit of public records law.\n"People have said (to newspapers) that I didn't take that document and I didn't ask anyone to shred that document," Brehm said. "I didn't understand what the story was." \nBrehm reflected warmly on her first year, citing the post-Sept. 11 bonding and the basketball team's unlikely run to the championship game as the year's memorable experiences. \nLate into the afternoon Brehm was still at work, fielding phone calls and, most likely, arranging more meetings.