IU deserves a Gordon Gee

Last week one of the most beloved — and highest paid — college presidents in America came out of retirement and began preparing for a seventh presidency after the Charleston Gazette reported that E. Gordon Gee would become West Virginia University’s interim president.

For those unfamiliar with the higher education world, Gordon Gee is the bowtie-wearing former president of Ohio State, the former chancellor of Vanderbilt and the former president of Brown University and the University of Colorado.

The always-personable Gordon Gee made a career not only on successful leadership and exceptional fundraising skills, but also for maintaining incredible relationships with students.

While at Ohio State, Gee was known to make appearances everywhere, from off-campus apartments to football games to fraternity parties, and he was not one to shy away from getting his picture taken with students at all of these events.

Gee, in many ways, exemplifies what the current IU administration lacks — a genuine interest in the students and student life beyond budgets and enrollment numbers.

Gee was loved for his passion for interacting with students outside the solemn university functions where you would expect to see a university’s president. Instead, he was very much a man of the people and made it his mission to make students, faculty and staff feel welcome during his time in office.

At IU it’s a different story.

There is no doubt IU President Michael McRobbie has made incredible budgetary and administrative strides that have benefited our University both financially and academically.

But when was the last time you saw McRobbie in person?

One of the obvious shortcomings of the McRobbie administration has been its near total disconnect from student life. Sure, there’s always the photo op at the beginning of the school year during move-in day or the promotional championship picture with one of our sports teams. But that might be it.

Last year I attended Greek Awards, the University’s annual recognition of outstanding chapters in Alumni Hall.

I don’t recall seeing a single high-ranking administrator that night, despite knowing the student coordinator of the awards had invited the dean of every school on campus, the provost and, of course, McRobbie.

This seems like a part of a larger trend at IU — the administrative marginalization of student life.

Despite student organizations playing such a large role in our college experience, the primary office that deals with student life — which many students are completely oblivious to — is holed up in a humble office in the Indiana Memorial Union to the disadvantage of so many.

Yes, McRobbie is a good president.

Yes, he may intrinsically never be like Gee.

But for the sake of student life on our campus, it couldn’t hurt to try.

­— edsalas@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Eduardo Salas on Twitter @esalpe.