‘We can’t just sit’: Students speak out about new university President Joel Towers

With the end of former Interim President Donna Shalala’s year as New School president, many students were eager to see a fresh face in the presidency and anxious to discover whether or not new University President Joel Towers would be an improvement.

President Towers has been at the New School for the past 20 years. He started as a professor at Parsons School of Design in 2004 and later became Dean of Parsons School of Design in 2009. As of Aug. 1, he began his official term as the tenth president of The New School. Some saw his longstanding involvement in the community as a potential strength.

“I guess it’s beneficial to bring in somebody that knows how the school works, how it’s run, the faculty, and professors. People on the inside have a better insight on how to run it and more one-on-one contact with the students,” said Lainy Kagan, a third-year economics student at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts.

Under former interim president Donna Shalala and the university’s ninth president, Dwight McBride, students were concerned regarding their authenticity and ability to engage with the student body. Feelings of mistrust rose in response to Shalala’s decision to introduce police presence on campus following student protests in support of Palestine. Similarly, many were frustrated with McBride’s handling of the part-time faculty strike in 2022. Students now wonder if President Towers will take on the role similarly. 

Bella Burnap, an undergraduate student in the BA/BFA dual degree program, wants to see President Towers consider students’ requests and try “to create a community that reflects the values of the student body and not just the board members.”

“The school enforces being openly yourself; where’s that representation in our administration in terms of mindset? Where’s that connection? It’s early, but so far it’s been an email, and that’s it,” Mannes School of Music second-year student Briana Benitez said.

Students had varying opinions on the specific issues they’d like to see administration focus on, but a collective goal was divestment from companies affiliated with Israel.

When President Towers was Dean of Parsons, he worked with the university to divest from all fossil fuel companies in 2015. However, a 2024 statement by TNS Students for Justice in Palestine revealed that the university was still receiving funds from Chevron and other corporations. 

Kagan said she felt optimistic about having a University President with a history of divesting in such companies but was frustrated with the lack of consistency and transparency. She was also eager to see more active changes being made going forward, particularly regarding divestment from Israel.

“If he has like a history of actually making those changes, I think that’s something really good. But then also, we haven’t divested from many of the companies that we said we were … We can’t just sit,” Kagan said.

The main concern among some students is the need for more connection between the administration and the student body.

“I’d like [to see] someone who cares about students and the learning environment and respecting, as a whole, the student’s wishes and what the students are wanting with leadership, ” Bigna Synz, a third-year Parsons student, said.

“It’s really connecting with the students instead of just sitting in your office all day doing nothing. I want to see the president. I want to see what they’re doing,” Juliet Bernardi, an undergraduate student at Eugene Lang, said.

Many reported that they simply aren’t sure what to think just yet, and are waiting to see President Towers’ next action.