EDITORIAL: An open letter

Insider perspective is crucialInsider perspective is crucialfor the regents chooisiung theInsider perspective is crucialfor the regents chooisiung theUniversity of Michigan'sInsider perspective is crucialfor the regents chooisiung theUniversity of Michigan'snext president. Here's ours.Insider perspective is crucialfor the regents chooisiung theUniversity of Michigan'snext president. Here's ours._______________________________ Having worked and interacted closely with Stanley Chodorow during his two years as provost of the University of Pennsylvania, we offer our thoughts as you consider him for the Michigan presidency. Chodorow hit the ground running when he arrived at Penn. He was eager to find out about and meet the players behind hot campus issues. He didn't hesitate to deal with sticky situations like the debate over the status of Penn's Reserve Officers' Training Corps programs. And he didn't shy away from espousing unpopular views; he tacitly supported the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy by allowing ROTC to remain on campus with its funding and recognition status unchanged after years of debate. But in his haste to get involved in campus life, Chodorow often put his foot in his mouth. During the debate over our new judicial charter, for example, he told an audience of students that the new disciplinary system -- then in early draft form -- was "not about fairness, [but] about effectiveness." And he once told a reporter that students shouldn't be involved in tenure decisions or have a predominant role on the educational reform committees he was organizing. "It's not as if students are the best organized people in the world," he said then. But Chodorow has learned from his mistakes. He remains accessible and willing to listen to any student who takes the time to e-mail him. He has made undergraduate education a priority, and even teaches one seminar in his field, described by students as incredibly challenging. Chodorow is an administrator who faculty members like because, in the words of one Penn English professor, "You can still see the chalk dust on his jacket." He's schmoozed with donors, although he's less media-savvy than our president, Judith Rodin. And he's tackled capital planning and technology issues and the budgetary crunch in our School of Arts and Sciences, too. Losing Chodorow would leave a void at Penn. But you couldn't go wrong selecting him as your next president.