The Student Assembly selected six students last night, from an applicant pool of 40, who they will nominate to be student representatives to the Dean Search Committee, the committee charged with finding the next dean of the College.
The six nominees will be interviewed by College President James Freedman, who will select two students to join the nine member committee. Assembly President Frode Eilertsen '99 is already on the committee.
The three students will join three faculty members and three administrators whose names have yet to be announced -- although they have already been chosen, according to Assembly Membership and Internal Affairs Committee member Rachel Gilliar '98.
Gilliar told The Dartmouth earlier this week that Freedman had told her the other six members of the list were already "set." However, none of the members of the MIAC knew the names of the faculty and administrative representatives when they met last night to compile the list of student nominees.
During the last dean of the College search, in 1991, the Assembly nominated four candidates for the search committee, but Freedman picked another student, who was not on the Assembly's list.
Freedman later added one of the Assembly's nominees to the committee.
The MIAC chose the nominees from the group of students who submitted applications in the past week.
Nahoko Kawakyu '99, who chairs the MIAC, said the committee's members were surprised by the high number of applicants.
"We were all really, really happy that there was so much interest in the search committee," Kawakyu said.
Kawakyu declined to release the names of the Assembly's nominees because she said the MIAC would not have time to notify the nominees last night, and she did not want applicants to learn of the decision via The Dartmouth.
In addition, she said she does not think the community needs to know who the Assembly nominated.
"We are elected. When people run for [Assembly] and people elect them, with that vote they are basically approving and giving the students the right to make certain decisions," Kawakyu said.
Kawakyu said the nominee list represents the diversity of the Dartmouth community. "There are women, men, affiliated [students], non-affiliated [students], students of color and students of different sexual orientations" on the nominee list, she said.
While three students will sit on the Dean Search Committee, only one student, Erica Ryu '98, sits on the Presidential Search Committee. Ryu was chosen without input from the Assembly.
Case Dorkey '99, who chairs the Assembly's administration and faculty relations committee, previously characterized the selection process of the Presidential Search Committee as "a huge step backwards."
Dorkey said lack of student involvement in the selection process "was one of the biggest disappointments of my time on Student Assembly."
