Next . . .

When people think of One Nassau Hall these days, many already see an empty chair.

And President Shapiro's announcement that he will resign at the end of the year has spurred administrators, faculty, town officials and student leaders to envision their ideal candidate to sit behind that hallowed desk.

The next president will face different challenges — overseeing the 500-student increase, the addition of a sixth residential college and the growing integration of the Frist Campus Center into student life.

And students, faculty and administrators agree the president will be called to lead a continued push toward a more diverse student body and staff.

The University already has begun this drive with the hiring of two African-American women — Janet Dickerson, vice president for campus life and Lauren Robinson-Brown '85, director of communications — in the past year. The emphasis on increasing diversity on university campuses across the nation likely will influence the search committee as it gathers its applicant pool.

"We certainly want to develop a diverse pool of candidates," Vice President and Secretary Thomas Wright '62 said. "It's important to make affirmative efforts to create a diverse pool to be looked at carefully."

Campus leaders listed a smorgasbord of salient issues they would like to see the next president address.

Triangle Club president Doug Lambert '01 said in an e-mail he would like someone "in-tuned" to the spatial and financial concerns of campus arts groups. Borough Mayor Marvin Reed said he would like a president who could foster a good relationship between the University and the community. Pride Alliance co-president Dan Weitz '01 said he wants someone to oversee the establishment of a LGBT center.

"Basically someone who walks on water," Wright quipped in response to these criteria.

With numerous special-interest groups lobbying for their own interests, a president who embodies all these characteristics and caters to all interest groups would be nearly impossible to find.

But campus leaders said a willingness to remain open-minded about campus issues is a quality the next president clearly should have.

"I'd like to see someone who is willing and more able to engender openness and acceptance," said Marc Melzer '02, the president of the Center for Jewish Life.

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USG vice president Spence Miller '02 said Shapiro encouraged such openness during his term and championed student positions on a variety of campus issues.

"I'd like someone as willing as Shapiro to interact with students and go out of their way for students," he said.

Despite the University's efforts to increase diversity, campus leaders said they believe it remains unlikely the University's next president will be a minority.

"I'd like to see it be a woman," said Susan Overton, director of the Women's Center. But, she added, "I don't know if Princeton's ready for that."

Nevertheless, Overton noted that it is not unprecedented for an Ivy League institution to have a female president. Judith Rodin is the president of the University of Pennsylvania.

Weitz, of the Pride Alliance, said he shares Overton's concerns, noting that though administrators have been "LGBT-friendly," he knows of no openly gay administrators.

In the hunt for the next president, the search committee will consider the diversity issue, looking for a president who can push toward the future, but remain tied to the University's rich history.

Athletic director Gary Walters '67 summed up the ideal candidate as a combination of the past three University presidents. He said in an e-mail, "The ideal candidate would possess the monumental integrity of President Goheen; the extraordinary energy, social conscience and organizational skills of President Bowen; and, finally, the educational vision, uncommon wisdom and personal moral compass of President Shapiro."