The stigma of Chancellor Sean O’Keefe being the new guy is ending.
The recent news that he missed the summer commencement program in order to attend a board meeting, part of his contractual obligation to the Battelle research company, has raised a number of issues, many long-simmering, to the surface.
Let us be clear, we don’t believe there is anything improper about O’Keefe being on corporate boards, though we take issue with his statement that his membership on these boards will steer more research money into the University. This sounds vaguely self-serving and doubtfully true, though all the more power to the chancellor if he manages to acquire more money for the University with his new contracts.
The real heart of the matter is that the office of the Chancellor is ever-changing, it takes a different mold with each occupant. In recent memory for most of us, former Chancellor Mark Emmert was known for being very active, often seen as going out of his way to meet with students. It seems, this cannot be said of O’Keefe, who seems to appear irregularly on campus. As we said above, we have no qualms with O’Keefe’s business relationships. To use an analogy, we can still have a congregation service when the pastor is absent. It becomes terribly difficult, though, when he is officiating at three different churches.
Students need a relationship with their chancellor. It is O’Keefe’s responsibility, in addition to his role as the head of the University, to at least appear in public outside of a few scheduled events.
In our other editorial today, we wrote about the need to build up this University with the tools we have. Chancellor O’Keefe, as head of the University, is one of those vital pieces of puzzle. He must lead by both word and deed. It will be our academics, not our football team, that lead us to national prominence. We need O’Keefe to be both our example and a cheerleader. We need him to devote to us as much time and energy as he believes a flagship university deserves.
And that means attending graduation and not blowing off those students who have toiled long and hard academically to do their part and help drag this University’s reputation out of the muck.