Presidential vision

I do know that Eisgruber has a hard act to follow. President Shirley Tilghman is an impressive woman. She successfully balances teaching, administration and family. She confronted freshman rush. She has worked hard to increase diversity in the student body and improve Princeton’s financial aid. My biology friends inform me that she is an excellent professor. Most importantly, she gave an unexpectedly hilarious performance at this year’s Latke-Hamentaschen debate. I admire many of her policies and believe that she has had a net positive effect on every aspect of University life, from admissions to academics.

Although I would have appreciated a little more student participation in the hunt for the next Shirley Tilghman, I understand on some level the value of the closed-doors process. What I do not understand, however, is the lack of any substantive information concerning the president-elect’s vision for the University following the announcement.

On Sunday, students received an email declaring Eisgruber’s selection. Statement after statement praised his credentials, his experience and his leadership abilities. I skimmed through these impatiently, searching for something that would give me a key to how the new presidency will affect the University. I found nothing.

In the midst of all this self-congratulation at having appointed such a qualified 20th president, the email had overtones of apprehension and warning. It made numerous references to challenges lying ahead, vague but colossal obstacles related to higher education generally and to Princeton in particular. What are they, and how is our new president going to meet them? The word “vision” surfaced in the email a grand total of three times in the most general fashion, never once offering a concrete example of how the vision Eisgruber apparently brings to the job will translate into University policy. And yet I never doubted that the new president would have a vision of some sort or another. It’s pretty much a prerequisite for the job. What I want to know, and what the search committee has not disclosed, is the content and direction of this vision. Slowly, more information is trickling out — but the newest sources do little more than affirm that Eisgruber intends to continue supporting the hallmarks of President Tilghman’s legacy. There will be overlap in Tilghman and Eisgruber policy — after all, they worked closely together in the same administration — but I find it hard to believe that his presidency will be solely concerned with protecting his predecessor’s achievements. The statements praising his selection repeatedly raised the specter of new, unprecedented challenges lying ahead for the institution. If the problems facing us are so singular, what new solutions does Eisgruber plan on bringing to the table?

If there is one thing Princeton students care about across the board, it’s Princeton. Why, then, have we not heard more about the goals and intentions of the University’s next chief administrator? I know that Christopher Eisgruber is competent. I don’t need to be told that the search committee has found a highly qualified individual to pick up the reigns of this institution. The wagon will drive; the question is, where?

Tehila Wenger is a politics major from Columbus, Ohio. She can be reached at twenger@princeton.edu.