This week, Oberlin’s Board of Trustees selected double-degree junior Courtney Merrell to serve as the student representative on the Presidential Search Committee.  Merrell, along with College juniors Colin Koffel and Louis Grube, had been recommended last week by Student Senate as candidates for the position.

Board of Trustees Chair Robert Lemle announced the decision in a letter posted on Oberlin’s website late Wednesday. In his letter, Lemle also wrote that a consulting firm contracted by Oberlin will be holding forums on campus early next week. Because of time constraints, neither Lemle nor the firm could  be contacted for comment.

Merrell,  before Lemle’s announcement, indicated that she was eager to help.

“I guess I just immediately thought it would be a great opportunity because, if anything, I’m very passionate about Oberlin – what it is as a school,” Merrell said of her decision to apply to be a student representative.

“That’s why I came here in the first place.  I’m one of those people who, when others are feeling a little bit down about their experience here, I get really annoyed,” she said.

Merrell was described by senators as the only applicant who had thought about how to garner student input for the PSC.  Merrell told the Review last week how she hoped to proactively engage students in a conversation about Oberlin’s next president. 

“I think the best thing to do is find a group of people who are engaged in something, and sit down and start talking to them,” Merrell said. “Somebody said Oberlin students don’t really care, and that’s not true.  They do care about [who] their president is, but they’re not necessarily going to voice their wants in a president until the president screws up, and then it’s too late.”

Merrell explained, “On this specific subject, it requires somebody to just get in [students’] face[s] and be like, ‘Hey, I care about what you think, and I want you to tell me what you think.’”

While the PSC is not expected to begin considering specific candidates for several more weeks, Merrell laid out some broad characteristics she hopes to see in Oberlin’s next president.  “I feel like this is an opportunity...to find a president who not only adores Oberlin, and thinks it’s the greatest school, at least in the country,” she said, “but also somebody who is really on the side of the students, and who isn’t afraid of the trustees, because the trustees will listen to the president.”

“I feel like the people who are president material tend to be really great diplomats...which is great,” she continued, “but I want a president who is going to be a really great diplomat but is [also] going to be fighting for the students the entire time.”

She added, “There are some very distinct things that Oberlin needs, [but] if you don’t meet the needs of the students first, then what are you doing?”

The Presidential Search Committee now consists of Merrell, six trustee members and the following people: Erik Inglis, representing the Arts and Sciences faculty; Joseph Karlgaard, representing the administrative and professional staff; Wendy Russell, representing the Alumni Association, and Timothy Weiss, representing the Conservatory faculty.

The committee held its first meeting on Nov. 5.  In a letter sent to the Oberlin College community, Lemle said that the committee discussed organizing principles for the search and reviewed a preliminary timeline, among other things. He also indicated that the committee plans to make regular reports on its activities.