A previous version of this article was unclear with statements made by SENS-UAW members about President David Van Zandt’s interactions with the union. The article has been updated with a more accurate explanation of the union’s formation and its negotiations with the university.
Members of presidential search committee held the first of a series of listening sessions on Thursday, April 18. The session, open to students and alumni, was held in order to assess the concerns and desires of the community to better inform the process of finding the ninth president of the New School.
12 people wore red in support of SENS-UAW, the student academic workers’ union, and posed their concerns to the search committee. Union members and other students in attendance raised serious questions about the increase in university fees and the lack of financial transparency from the university. Approximately 30 people attended the session, with some attendees coming and going.
The presidential search committee was formed in February 2019 following President David Van Zandt’s announcement that he would not renew his contract when it expires in June 2020. The town hall listening session took place from 1:15-2:30 p.m. in I202 of Arnhold Hall.
“The raising of the fees is kind of stupid and mostly unnecessary,” said Hita Abe, a first-year Lang student studying Arts in Context. “And the fact that we don’t know is kind of like, ‘Oh, so are you just taking our money? Or do you have a good, valid reason that you can share to us?’” she said.
The committee and Spencer Stuart will wait until after all town hall sessions to begin interviewing and vetting potential candidates. The job description will be informed by the listening sessions. The position will be listed as available and the committee will begin accepting resumes in June 2019, interviewing candidates in July and August with the goal of making an official recommendation by early Fall 2019.
- Joseph Gromek, head of the Board of trustees and committee co-chair (present)
- Linda Rappaport, Board of trustees member, partner at Shearman and Sterling law firm, and committee co-chair (present)
- Mariana Amatullo, professor of strategic design and management at Parsons (present)
- Steve Bloom, trustee (present)
- Nancye Green, trustee and architectural design ‘73 (present)
- Katie Tzivanis, politics and urban studies at Lang (present)
- Lungowe Zeko, media management, schools of Public Engagement
- Teresa Ghilarducci, economics professor at NSSR
- Maria-Elena Grant, senior manager for operations and special projects, marketing & communication (liberal arts ‘16)
- William E. Havemeyer, trustee
- Alexander Jutkowitz, trustee
- David E. McCLean, trustee (MA philosophy ‘03, PhD philosophy ‘09)
- Ricky Tucker, senior writer for marketing & communications (liberal arts ‘14)
Speakers at the listening session also brought up an array of issues: accountability from administration members, the disparity between administration salaries and teacher/worker pay, food insecurity, international student issues surrounding housing and visas, and funds for the Lang Prison Initiative to continue.
Multiple students advocated for a the next president to be a person of color, and not a cisgender man. That would be a first for the New School, in its 100 years of history.
Several students and faculty in attendance said that the New School should abandon the idea of a president entirely, and work collectively to perform the current functions of the president. The president’s job, according to committee members, is fundraising and formulating a vision for the university going forward.
Eli Nadeau, an Ph.D. candidate in politics at NSSR and member of SENS-UAW, said there should not be someone at the top, and that the president’s responsibilities should be done by a collective and involve more members of the university.
“Let’s not have a president. Let’s use those resources [and] have a revolving collective of decision-makers still sort of part of the board of trustees, still responsible for raising funds,” Nadeau said, following the town hall. “The structure is the problem, as many of the students have articulated really well here today. We’re standing on a sinking ship in a broken world,” they said.
Nancye Green, a trustee who graduated from Parsons with a degree in architectural design in 1973, spoke the Free Press following the listening session. Green said that hearing from students about problems at the university reminded her of her time at the New School.
“I went through Parsons and I worked full-time and I had no funding and I had scholarships and I get how scary that is. It takes me back,” Green said.
Green acknowledged that some New School students can’t afford an “this expensive education” in an “expensive city.”
“It just makes me feel like we have to do something very differently,” she said. “I don’t know what that is but we have to find a leader.”
“You have to have someone who has courage and who has vision,” Green said.
Green emphasized that alternative thinking is necessary to solve the problems at the New School, and higher education at large.
“Higher education is in a crisis but we at the New School, we have an obligation to try and figure this out a different way. Our history tells us we have to figure it out a different way,” Green said.
One faculty member in attendance called for the founding document, “A Proposal for an Independent School of Social Science” (1917), of the university to be required reading for an incoming president.
Most notably, members of the union charged President Van Zandt with strong opposition to the formation of the academic student workers’ union, and the year-long process of negotiating a labor agreement with the university.
Two more listening sessions, open to anyone at the university, will be held within the next two weeks in Tishman Auditorium in the University Center: on Monday, April 29 from 9 – 10:30 a.m. and Monday, May 6 from 5:15 – 6:45 p.m.
Nadeau criticized the makeup of the presidential search committee and its ability to understand students’ needs.
“Do they even know what that means? To be able to have a life experience that resonates with the students that are most vulnerable,” Nadeau said. ______________________________________________________________________________
Rebekah Stewartson contributed reporting
Jihan Basyah is the social media editor for the New School Free Press. She started off as a reporter covering fashion, arts, and culture. Currently, Jihan is studying Journalism + Design, with a minor in Fashion Communication, at The New School.
