By Sydney Topf and Matthew Eadie
After Boston University announced Melissa Gilliam as the University’s 11th president on Wednesday, students across BU expressed their thoughts about the historic appointment.
The Board of Trustees announced their decision to appoint Gilliam as president, after Robert Brown stepped down as president in Fall 2022. Kenneth Freeman will remain as interim president until the end of the 2024 school year.
In the past, students have asked for a more in touch administration, according to previous Daily Free Press reporting.
Shana Weitzen, a junior in the Pardee School of Global Studies, said the appointment of Gilliam was a welcome surprise for her and other students.
“I think people were kind of worried with the decisions that they were going to make in the hiring process and I think they kind of blew all of our expectations out of the water with the choice that they made,” Weitzen said.
Gilliam is BU’s first female and first Black president in the 184-year history of BU.
“I think having a woman of color as the president is another really big step for BU and I think that’s a really big thing for a lot of students on campus who can see themselves in the new president,” Weitzen said.
Gilliam, a graduate of Yale University, the University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School and the University of Chicago, has been executive vice president and provost at The Ohio State University since 2021.
“My mom and I were freaking out over her bio last night and reading it together,” Weitzen said. “I think that’s really amazing to see someone like her holding such an important role in higher education, which usually has so many barriers to people of color.”
Emeie Burger, a junior in the College of Fine Arts, said she noticed discussion about two different aspects of Gilliam’s identity.
“I also think it’s interesting how part of this conversation is her identity being brought up … as opposed to her as a leader and as a doctor,” Burger said.
Dean of Students Jason Campbell-Foster said the best way for a university leader to understand students is by “being with them in their spaces.”
“My hope is that the president will continue to find organic opportunities to connect with students across the university, whether that be engaging in their spaces, getting feedback from them over lunches, dinners, and being together in community with the students in natural ways,” Campbell-Foster said.
Campbell-Foster said he felt an “electrified feeling” in the air.
“Just walking around campus [on Wednesday] there was a lightness in the air and I think students, faculty and staff are just so excited about where we are going next and how we can be part of that change,” he said.
Campbell-Foster said he is hoping to continue the “collaborative” relationship with Gilliam that he’s had with the interim and emeritus presidents.
“[I’m hoping] for a shared vision for what we believe needs to be in place in order to empower young people here at BU to really reach their fullest potential,” he said.
Zoe Moore, a senior in the College of Communication, said their professor broadcasted the livestream announcement of Gilliam in their cinematography class on Wednesday.
“That was awesome that my professor shined a spotlight and encouraged everyone to care and be there on the day,” Moore said.
Moore called the announcement a “breath of fresh air” for a university that had been under the leadership of Robert Brown for nearly two decades.
“Everyone’s really frustrated, I feel like coming out of the pandemic still and it’s nice to have a new face,” Moore said.
Moore said they hope Gilliam, once president, directs more attention to COM to ensure funding is structured more equitably across the University, adding that they feel STEM programs like the Faculty of Computing and Data Science have been in the spotlight for too long.
“My experience in COM has been definitely worsened by the structure of the university,” Moore said. “[CDS] had their moment, I think it’s time to help elsewhere.”
In her welcome speech on Wednesday morning, Gilliam addressed the welfare of students among others as one of her priorities in her new role.
“We have to commit to the mental, physical and social well-being of our students, faculty and staff,” Gilliam said at her announcement speech.
Chloe Patel and Lindsay Shachnow contributed to the reporting of this article
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors for posts with multiple authors or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
