The first semester after the Great Administrator Exodus of 2003 is nearly finished, and still it seems there’s just as many administrators with “interim” in their title as when the semester started. Plenty of administrators with “interim” or “acting” tags are in high-level positions, running departments such as the Department of Public Safety and the Office of Off-Campus Student Life.
But there’s one “interim” who stands above all others: Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson. To students, the vice president for student affairs is someone you may never meet, someone you may never recognize, someone you can blissfully ignore for four years. But he is also someone who can cancel your block party, anger your gay and lesbian students, and generally alienate you with his aloofness.
I speak, of course, of Olson’s predecessor, Juan Gonzalez, who left Georgetown over the summer for Arizona State University. Since then, Olson has been the anti-Juan. He hasn’t had to deal with block parties or LGBTQ resource centers, but his support among students is nearly universal.
Brian Morgenstern, president of the Georgetown University Student Association, has plenty of praise for Olson: “Todd is a great guy. He’s smart, he’s honest, he doesn’t take anyone’s side. He’s a realistic and honest voice,” said Morgenstern. “I have a great relationship with him on a personal and professional level. I think the world of him.”
If everyone likes Olson so much, why even bother with the interim tag? Morgenstern said that the University is in no hurry to give Olson the nod or not. “[The University is] going to let him settle in and get some things done before they make any kind of decision,” he said. Olson was not available for comment yesterday.
University spokeswoman Julie Green Bataille says University President John J. DeGioia and Provost James T. O’Donnell have no plans to confirm Olson as the permanent VP or replace him. The traditional route is to appoint a committee and conduct a nationwide search for a replacement. That, however, is time-consuming and expensive. Instead, what may well happen, according to several sources, is that DeGioia and O’Donnell may simply name Olson permanent VP.
The question is what role students will have in any of these decisions. In 2000, the committee that eventually selected Gonzalez included three students. Also around that time, the search committee to replace former President Leo J. O’Donovan, S.J. included only one student among more than 20 members.
This presents a big question: With history showing that the University’s recognition of student opinions in these matters is marginal at best, if DeGioia and O’Donnell make the decision themselves, will they solicit student input, even though they are not formally part of the selection process?
Morgenstern thinks they will. “I see no reason why that shouldn’t happen,” he said. Too bad that the University’s history indicates otherwise.
