Boston University students expressed their surprise and disbelief after learning of the resignation of BU President Jon Westling Tuesday, and many said they were interested to see how the appointment of controversial Interim President John Silber will affect the University.
Student Union President Ethan Clay, who planned to meet with Westling once a month during the summer, said the news caught him off guard.
“I called him today and I was planning on meeting with him,” Clay said. “I was completely surprised tonight when I found out.”
Clay said he was looking forward to working with Silber during the school year.
“My first reaction is that I was really excited — not that Westling was resigning — but excited to see John Silber come to light,” Clay said. “He’s really going to be out there much more.”
Zachary Coseglia, a former Union president and College of Communication graduate who worked with Westling during the spring semester, said the news shocked him.
“He made an effort to meet with me and other people within the Union and to listen to students,” Coseglia said. “With the SAT scores going up and the enrollment and applicants going up, those are all great things, and he’s left his mark and a sense of legacy for himself as an administrator.”
Aaron Michel, former president of the Environmental Students Organization and a University Professors senior, said he was also unaware of the resignation until last night and had no idea it was coming. Michel said he doesn’t think the change in the president’s office will change anything with ESO.
“If you look at policy changes from when Silber was president to when Westling was president, there were the same policies as far as the environment goes,” Michel said. “Even though Silber is president again, we’re still dealing with the same mindset.”
Adam Jupiter, a College of Communication junior, said he thought Westling did an excellent job during his tenure as president.
“If you look at some of the changes to the academics and added prestige to Boston University, you can say he did a fine job,” Jupiter said. “The SAT’s and GPA’s coming into BU are higher now than they ever were.”
Jupiter said he was not sure whether students would be happy to see Silber as the president once again, citing the current Guest Policy and the elimination of the football team as reasons.
“John Silber is the reason many BU students are unhappy,” Jupiter said. “It will be interesting to see if he tries to make it his university once again or make it the best university possible. Only time will tell.”
One of the biggest issues on many students’ minds last year was the Guest Policy. Clay, the former president of BU Free, a group that is striving to create changes in the Guest Policy, said he hadn’t given much thought to what would happen with the policy.
“There’s so many thoughts running through my mind I hadn’t had a chance to think about what this means for the Guest Policy,” Clay said. “I think the resignation means more for the University in general than just the Guest Policy.”
Clay said he hoped Silber would also look at the Guest Policy proposal with an “open mind.”
“I think President Silber is a very intelligent man and I hope he looks at our line of reasoning with that intelligence that he holds,” Clay said.
Coseglia said he was well aware of Silber’s opinion on the matter and he didn’t expect Silber to make a decision before a new president was found.
“I don’t expect that to be on the top of Silber’s list of things to do,” Coseglia said. “I don’t know what will happen specifically, but I know Silber has always had very strong opinions about the issue.”
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