For most Washington University students, “The Chancellor” is the guy who speaks at big events and supposedly invented the glow stick.
He is the man who insists on keeping the Bunny in front of Mallinckrodt and who wears double-breasted suits.
But for most of us, that’s all we know of him.
The truth is that Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton is much more than this caricature. He has been an incredibly effective leader of Washington University, firmly entrenching it among the world’s academic powerhouses. He is a brilliant chemist who became a full professor at MIT before age 30.
But for all that, Wrighton has one significant failing: he has never had a connection with students.
The reverse is true on many other college campuses, where presidents or chancellors are often highly visible individuals who can be seen greeting students by name, throwing a Frisbee around on a spring day-even checking out the fraternity parties on a Saturday night. Our previous chancellor, William Danforth, was well known around campus, too.
But let’s face it: Wrighton will never be seen tossing a Frisbee in the Brookings Quad. That’s just not him. But he should make an effort to find other ways to connect with students.
If he enjoys running, Wrighton could join the Running Club for weekly jogs around Forest Park. If it’s bowling he prefers, he should initiate monthly bowling trips with E-Comp classes. He could sponsor a student group like Alpha Chi Sigma, the Chemistry Society; audit a large lecture class, like Human Evolution or Intro to Psych; drop in on philosophy classes and continue the conversations afterwards in Holmes; even TA a subsection of Chem 111.
Whatever he does, the most important thing is that Wrighton look like he enjoys his interactions with students. Right now, when he has “drop-in lunches” in Mallinckrodt (with trusty sidekick Steve Givens at his side-for protection from unruly students, perhaps), Wrighton has a pained look-the kind that says he would rather be anywhere in the world than there.
We understand introverts. There are a lot of them here. But just as it is an expectation that the most introverted among us must make an effort to reach beyond their comfort zone, so must the chancellor.
Many organizations, offices and classes on campus aim to instruct students on leadership skills. All teach that relationships are a key component of leadership. Wrighton has carefully cultivated those bonds with donors-but not with students. While donors pay his salary, students are his raison d’etre-or, at the very least, they should be.
Most students cannot walk between classes without running into people they know and stopping to chat. The same can be said for administrators like Dean Jim McLeod and Director of Campus Life Jill Carnaghi. But when the chancellor walks from Brookings to Mallinckrodt, he usually keeps to himself.
Is it too much to ask that the leader of our University chat with us and know a few of our names?