Student requests Chancellor Cantor conducts session to answer questions

An open letter to Chancellor Nancy Cantor:

First and foremost, I want to thank you for speaking to the Student Association Monday. You gave some really important insights into the university and its direction. However, I, along with many fellow students, were unhappy that you did not stay to field questions. As soon as you finished, you and Vice Chancellor and Provost Eric Spina abruptly left without giving the student body ample time to ask questions. Many of us were under the impression that you came to speak to us to get input from the student body. You even had a bullet in your PowerPoint presentation on how important student input is.

I cannot stress the importance of Q-and-A sessions with the student body. When you gave your seminal speech on Scholarship in Action at the 50th anniversary of the Center for the Study of High and Postsecondary Education, you yourself said that, “it may take leaving the ivory tower to rekindle the collective public will and quiet the noise of individualism.” I would like to ask you to embody your own words and “come down from your ivory tower” and hold a Q-and-A session with the entire student body before the end of this semester. I realize that is a tough request, but I think that connecting with your student body should be one of your priorities. After all, part of the vision of Syracuse University is to “inform and encourage public opinion and debate” and to “provide access to opportunity.”

Sincerely,
Ross Lazerowitz
Systems and Information Science Major
Class of 2015