On Thursday, students joined members of the Student Senate for the semester’s first “Pizza with the President” with President Shirley Ann Jackson. Free pizza, salad, and chicken were served at the second floor of the Russell Sage Dining Hall. With an attendance of around 60, it was the best turnout that had ever been seen for these monthly “Pizza with the President” meetings.
At the beginning of the event, various members of the administration were sitting at each table to answer that table’s questions. Among those present were Secretary of the Institute and General Counsel Charles Carletta and Vice President of Student Life Eddie Ade Knowles. At one table, a student asked about hockey game parking and transportation. Carletta pointed out how there is a “Puckman Express” running, shuttling hockey fans from North Lot to the Houston Field House.
The same student asked if Troy was becoming angry about all the land RPI was buying, as this detracts from taxable land in Troy. Carletta responded that RPI voluntarily pays for much of its land when they do not have to, being an educational institution. As to whether or not that is enough, Carletta responded, “No, and it never will be.” However, colleges are big economic producers for the town they are in. As an example, he noted how a 125-room Hilton Inn is being built on Hoosick Street with the idea that a large portion of its customer base would be there because of RPI.
At this point, President Jackson rose from her table to give a speech and open herself to questions from the whole room. She began by declaring the objective of the developments in the campaign “to better Rensselaer” and eventually compete with MIT as it once did. She told the story of Sean O’Sullivan, who graduated in the Class of 1985 who started MapInfo, his Troy-based company, and JumpStart International, which is a global humanitarian engineering service.
Jackson discussed the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisiplinary Studies, which stands as a symbol for the fusion of interdisciplinary sciences of the future. She also talked about the growing athletic facilities in a school where 5,000 students participate in athletics in some way. At this point, the general questions began.
The women’s soccer team, all dressed for practice, pointed out that it was one of the few teams without a full-time head coach and asked if this would be addressed any time soon. Jackson replied that it is a current issue and “You’re in our hearts.”
One concerned student rose and expressed discontent at the current male to female ratio of 3-to-1. Jackson replied that as Rensselaer continues to improve in the field of diversity, it includes gender diversity, and the ratio can be expected to improve in the future. The Class of 2011 brought over 400 women to campus this year, nearly a third of the class.
Next, a student asked about the electronic community, which is the series of rules regulating student Internet use. Basically, student use of electronic platforms at Rensselaer must follow guidelines that are consistent with that of the university’s, which means no hateful messaging. Carletta added to this that students should not merely follow the basic rules, but should take a moral ground one notch up that isn’t requested of them.
A student from Sheer Idiocy asked if communication that occurs at the administrative level could be more visible to the rest of the campus. Jackson replied that there is already data and information available out there, but there are things that do not have to be shown. Another student followed up on this, wondering if the rumor was true that RPI was “going downhill.” Jackson asked if that student had had a bad experience yet, and she hadn’t. Jackson then said that if the school was going downhill, “show me the evidence,” as the school is as strong as it has ever been.
The last question came from a curious student who wondered what the average day in the life of the president was like. Jackson said that if she is here, she is at meetings all day long with deans, students, faculty, or off-campus visitors; sometimes she goes to Washington to give a speech on a bill. Last spring, Jackson visited France, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland to spread the Rensselaer name, meeting with institutions like the Imperial College, London, and CERN, which may have been fruitful because just last summer, two RPI students worked at CERN.
“Pizza with the President” is generally held monthly, but the exact next date for October has yet to be decided.
