This week, Student Senate — citing lack of time, lack of qualified candidates and overall frustration with the process — decided that it could only recommend one candidate to the newly formed Presidential Search Committee from its pool of applicants, although the Board of Trustees had tasked them with finding three candidates. At an emergency meeting held Wednesday evening, the Senate decided to fill the gaps with two of its own membership, feeling that the external candidates would be unable to serve sufficiently as representatives of the student body.

Junior double-degree student Courtney Merrell was the one selected out of the original applicant pool. Senators and college juniors Colin Koffell and Louis Grube were both recommended in the last-minute session Wednesday. This decision marked the conclusion of a marathon three-week search process undertaken by the Student Senate to find candidates for the position.

Early last month, the Board of Trustees created the PSC to search for a successor for the departing President, Nancy Dye, and directed that one of the committee’s 11 seats be filled by a student and gave the Senate until last Thursday to find the candidates. Senators were unhappy with the limited representation and the Board’s timeline — which required the Senate to search for candidates during midterms and fall break — but still turned around a written application and conducted interviews. In the end, however, fewer than a dozen students applied.

Student Senate Liason and College senior Matt Adler explained that the senators had a difficult time finding individuals who could represent the whole of campus, and that this contributed to their inability to recommend more than one applicant.

“Because of our constraint of one seat, we felt that there was only one candidate [Merrell] at this time that we would be comfortable with,” Adler said. “We feel like these other people are qualified candidates to be on a presidential search committee, but are not qualified candidates to be the only student on a presidential search committee.”

The limited representation also created a logistical concern: This one student will have to work long hours on a weekly basis for many months, with no peer support.

Collin Koffel, Student Senate’s membership coordinator, told the Review Tuesday night – before he was recommended for the PSC position – that there was a desire among some Senators “to have at least two students, because we know that it was a demanding committee [during previous presidential searches].”  Koffel added, “We wanted two students to be there because also Oberlin has such a diverse student body.”

Board Chair Robert Lemle, OC ’75, defended the committee’s make-up, saying that the committees that directed the last two presidential searches contained only one student.

 “The Board decided on the same composition of the presidential search committee as it used for the search for President Fred Starr in 1982 and for President Nancy Dye in 1993,” Lemle wrote in an email to a Review reporter.

In addition to the one student, the PSC will include six board members, one alum, one member of the professional staff and two faculty members — one from the Conservatory and one from the College.

With the decision to include only one student on the PSC already made, Senators are concerned about fair student representation.

Koffel said: “I see good intentions from Trustees but there have been key decisions made by campus officials — cancellation of the London Program, closing of a 24-hour computer lab — that makes me concerned about the role of the student voice. I want to make sure the student voice is heard.”

Responding to a question about the level of student involvement in the selection process, Lemle wrote, “next week, after the presidential search committee meets, we will announce the first steps for campus participation.”

Senators brought up the possibility of forums, possibly starting as soon as this month, but no specific events have yet been planned.

The Senate, however, pointed to its recommendation of Merell as proof that it is making an effort to get students involved. According to Senators, Merell was the only applicant to offer a plan for student participation during the interview process.

“She had thought the most about how to connect with the student body,” Adler said.

Merell is excited about the potentially being able to represent student interests on the PSC.  “I think this is a really great opportunity,” she said.

Responding to the news that Senators had chosen not to recommend any other applicants, and instead recommended two Senators, Merell said, “I guess it’s a great validation for myself. But, on the other hand, there are some great Student Senators here who know a lot more about Oberlin than I do. If they would fit the position better and have the time, then I wouldn’t begrudge them for getting [the position over me].”

The Board of Trustees will begin the process of interviewing the three recommended students this weekend, and is expected to announce their final selection within the next few weeks.