Dartmouth's next president will have a wide spectrum of issues to tackle, ranging from sexual assault to binge drinking to diversity. Although faculty, students and alumni interviewed by The Dartmouth differed widely in their opinions of what the College's next administration should look like, they unanimously agreed that the new president must be someone who truly understands Dartmouth's uniqueness.
The search committee for the next president will be led by Board of Trustee member Bill Helman '80, and trustee Diana Taylor '77 will serve as vice-chair.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees Stephen Mandel '78 said he feels that the search for Kim's successor will be easier than the search for Kim. The presidential search document created in 2008 which outlined a set of qualifications that the president of the College should possess can be used as a "template" for document to be created during the current process, Mandel said.
Among the characteristics outlined by the previous search document were "the ability to build strong management teams" and "a powerful affinity for the mission and values of Dartmouth College."
Outgoing Student Body President Max Yoeli '12 said that students should be consulted during the presidential search process.
"Student input and a direct voice on the committee with input taken seriously is important to choosing a president who will be accepted by faculty, alumni and students," Yoeli said.
Association of Alumni President John Daukas '84 said that hiring someone who has "been through Dartmouth" would be best for the College.
"It's very important that they find someone who appreciates what makes Dartmouth such a wonderful place and the best place to go to college, and I think that's probably an alum," Daukas said. "You can have exceptions Jim Kim was a great exception but the people who are most likely to appreciate what makes Dartmouth Dartmouth' are people who went here."
Charlie Hoffmann '77 Tu '83 said that Kim's perceived "outsider" status might fuel alumni desire for a fellow Dartmouth graduate to serve as the next president.
Students and faculty expressed the common sentiment that Dartmouth's next president should serve a longer term than Kim did. The new president should also be involved in campus life and have a genuine interest in student activities, according to students and faculty.
Recently elected Student Body President Suril Kantaria '13 said that Dartmouth's next president should be committed to developing the College internally.
"We've had a president for the past few years who's improved Dartmouth's image and focused outwards," Kantaria said. "But I would look for a president who focuses inwards, who's committed to stay for a long period of time and someone who really has experienced Dartmouth."
Maintaining Dartmouth's competitiveness should be a priority of the next administration, according to faculty, students and alumni. Many alumni said the next president should focus on how to keep the College running smoothly, while faculty and students said the focus should be on the College's academic strengths as a liberal arts institution.
Keeping the College's operations organized is essential to its success, former president of the Dartmouth Association of Alumni John Mathias '69 said.
"A lot of people are good at certain things, but when it comes to administration, they don't have a feel for it," Mathias said. "Ideally you have someone who has been on point and experienced administration of some kind or worked in an administration with various levels."
Yoeli said that Dartmouth's new president must understand the school's academic mission.
"Of the qualities [the committee] is searching for, one of the top in my mind is a fierce commitment to liberal arts and recognizing Dartmouth's history as a college, not a university," Yoeli said.
Students called for increased dialogue between the administration and the student body, citing occasions when student interests have been ignored.
"I think the general sentiment of the student body is that the Kim administration has not really reacted to student cries," Kantaria said. "I think that this has fueled several students' frustration about the administration."
Yoeli said that despite admirable administrative support for student programs such as Green Team, the Kim administration often fell short of meeting student needs.
"Members of the community who are involved in sexual assault prevention efforts said they faced some trouble with [Kim's] office," Yoeli said. "I put in a lot of effort for dining advocacy. The Dean's office took some efforts but there were delays and we weren't quite sure where the holdup was."
Theater professor Peter Hackett pointed to sexual assault and binge drinking as Dartmouth's two greatest challenges. He added that female students at the College are "significantly less safe" than male students, and this will only change if the president is willing to change the existing state of affairs.
A new president will need "considerable courage to face the parts of the Dartmouth community that are adamant about preserving the status quo," Hackett said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Class of 2014 President Chisom Obi-Okoye '14 said that issues such as self-segregation and the "exclusivity" of the College could be ameliorated by an administration that tried to find new ways to make Dartmouth feel more like a community.
"It's not terrible that people want to hang out with, for example, their sports teams, but what happens is you have a lot of separate communities that don't always work together," Obi-Okoye said. "The binge drinking isn't the problem. It's people not feeling like they have something to do that causes the binge drinking."
English professor Ivy Schweitzer said that under Kim, Dartmouth has become a "less community-oriented" place and that a new president should focus on making the College a welcoming place for all.
"Dartmouth has become a much more corporatized' institution," Schweitzer said. "Department administrators are working to the bone. I think the janitorial staff feel kind of pushed around these are the people who make possible our existence here."
Other professors called for increased dialogue between faculty and administrators and an increased role for faculty in policymaking.
"We would like to see a real effort to listen to the faculty not just a nod and a pat on the back and a smile, but a real attempt to listen," anthropology professor Sergei Kan said. "[Kim] never really connected with most of the faculty, and the same goes for many of the students."
Staff writer Jenny Che contributed reporting to this article.
