Student reactions: Apathy indifference highlight mood of IU's undergraduates

Though the IU board of trustees enthusiastically endorsed Interim Provost Michael McRobbie as the next president of IU, students seemed to greet the news with a collective apathetic groan.\nEarly Thursday, the University sent out e-mails to students and faculty with information about where to view the announcement of IU’s 18th president. Along with the option of viewing the trustee meeting online or on campus TV, a room was set up in the Radio -TV building for people to view a live feed of the event.\nThree retired faculty members showed up, along with three members of the media who said they were expecting a bigger crowd. That could be a sign that students looked online to view the announcement – or that many just weren’t paying attention.\n“I didn’t even know the president was being elected,” senior Jennifer Hubacher said while eating lunch in the Indiana Memorial Union.\nSenior Valerie Davis said she was not paying attention to the announcement because she was focusing on her schoolwork.\n“I’m not concerned with it – I’m concerned with midterms,” she said while studying in the IMU. “Normally I would be more concerned with it.”\nJunior Kyle Smeehuyzen said he didn’t find out IU was announcing its next president until around noon Thursday, when he received the e-mail sent to students and faculty. He said he was largely unaware of the responsibilities of the University’s president and what President Adam Herbert had accomplished.\n“It’s just not out there,” he said. “There’s not signs out there with what he’s planning to do.”\nHe suggested that McRobbie have signs posted around campus with his plans for the University and updates about his tenure.\nJunior Ari Letwin said he was not familiar with the specifics of McRobbie’s background, but he agreed with the choice.\n“Compared to the last president, he definitely seems like he’s off to a good start,” he said.\nLetwin said he hopes McRobbie will review the teaching habits of professors to better engage students in \nthe classroom.\nSenior Dawn Rodney said she met McRobbie at a Dean’s Advisory Board meeting and came away with a positive view of the next president.\n“He seemed like a nice person, friendly and approachable,” she said. “I don’t know his background, but he seems like a nice guy.”\nIUSA President Betsy Henke wasn’t surprised with the lack of student engagement in the presidential selection. She said some of her friends were confused whether the administration was searching for the University president or the student-body president.\n“Even people in my own sorority were saying, ‘Is this the person who’s going to replace you, Betsy?’” she said.\nHenke’s IUSA administration fought for a Bloomington student to be on the search committee, which recommended McRobbie for president. But it was repeatedly denied by the IU administration, which said a graduate student from IU-South Bend was suitable representation.\nHenke clarified that she was not disappointed with the selection of McRobbie, but rather the process, which she said discounted Bloomington students.\nWhile she received e-mails from many students concerned with the selection of the next president, she said, the majority of the comments came from those affiliated with campus groups such as the Residence Halls Association, the IU Student Foundation and IU Dance Marathon. And she said she still doesn’t think it’s a matter of students not caring about the University’s leadership.\n“I don’t think they’re apathetic – I think they just don’t have knowledge of the process,” she said.