This Friday, Randy Dunn will be officially inducted as the eighth president of Youngstown State University during a ceremony at Beeghly Center. By then, it will have been about three-and-a-half months since Dunn assumed the position on July 15. Since he began, we’ve seen him deal with YSU’s continuous enrollment decline, people losing their jobs and other big news.
We’ve also seen a press conference announcing Dunn as Cynthia Anderson’s successor, his first meet-and-greet with YSU students in early August, his State of the University address where he made his plans for YSU clear and he even dropped in at The Jambar office one day to meet everyone.
So why November 1? What is it about Friday that makes it the day the university officially says, “Yup, you’re one of us now”?
Don’t get us wrong; we’ve liked Dunn so far. But why wait until so late in the semester to make it official that he’s the president until he or the Board of Trustees decides otherwise?
Cynthia Anderson was inducted as president on July 1, 2010, the first day of her term. Dunn will be inducted on the 116th day of his term. It’s fairly standard practice for a new university president to be inducted at a ceremony, but this time delay is crazy. As a university, we’ve welcomed Dunn with open arms, and he’s made himself at home, so do we really need to do it one last time?
A couple of weeks ago, budget cuts were announced and people started getting laid off. Events like this certainly cost money and take time to plan out, but even so, we have to ask ourselves if this ceremony is worth it so late into the semester, especially when expenditures are at a premium.
At this point in the year, is it even worth it to officially induct him? Being that we’re already 11 weeks into the semester, he’s already dealt with major issues concerning the university, and the university — and the student body — has already welcomed him with open arms. Is it worth the excess money that can be spent on other things?
