A recommendation for President Tilghman

What is President Tilghman's vision? Connecting the individual dots of her presidency — the athletics moratorium, skepticism about Greek life, a desire to revamp freshman orientation and so on — I think it's a good one. My guess is she wants to make our campus less clubby, less narrow-minded and more like the open, eclectic place described in this year's admissions viewbook. But it's only a guess, because Tilghman has yet to spell out her view of the big picture. It's high time she did.

Over the last few months, Tilghman has begun holding "town hall" meetings with alumni around the country. She kicks these off by giving a brief state-of-the-campus update that outlines her plans, lets a visiting professor chat for a bit, then opens up for alumni to ask questions and pick her brain about whatever concerns them.

It's time for a town meeting here in Princeton.

There's precedent for this: During the moratorium debate, Tilghman held a wonderful open meeting with athletes and other interested students that gave everyone the chance, if not to be won over to her side, at least to get a detailed and accurate sense of her convictions.

But not every student constituency is as admirably well-organized as the varsity athletes, who have legions of coaches and alumni booster groups to amplify their energy. Activists interested in making sure we have the tools to help rape victims, physicists who worry Tilghman may be putting biology ahead of the other sciences, students who want to know more about the pending four-year-colleges and doubtless others whose concerns are not yet public knowledge would value the chance to ask questions. As President Bush's critics have rightly pointed out, there's no substitute for a leader's willingness to answer spontaneous questions without a script. Princeton would benefit from exactly the kind of open forum Karl Rove and company abhor.

The time involved would not be extravagant: There are, as of this morning, 2,808 hours until commencement. We want three of them. The event will either be a small failure or a large success.

Tilghman has the most to gain from such a meeting. Her business with administrators and alumni necessarily leaves limited opportunity for student contact. I remember her interest and surprise on learning, from a 'Prince' reporter's question, about the yearly drunken room parties that supplant the Street when clubs close for prefrosh weekend. She would probably enjoy the chance to pick our brains in a group, or to take a straw poll on some of the issues she has to think about. This would be a really efficient way for her, and the administration more generally, to take our pulse as a campus.

And why should students be excited for this, in the absence of a single burning issue? I think many of us have questions to ask her today. A public meeting is better than office hours for airing widely shared concerns. And interacting freely with students is always an excellent work habit for college presidents. When the next big issue does come up, every student will profit from a background expectation of openness. On the other hand, if we don't make a point of expecting the administration to explain itself to us, we heighten the risk that they will marginalize student input when it matters most.

To maximize the odds of satisfaction for all involved, the event might start with a few minutes of big ideas from Tilghman. Something along the lines of "What kind of a place will Princeton be in ten years?" Then we could have a couple hours of open discussion – with both sides free to ask and answer questions – ideally with brief time limits for both the Q's and A's so a maximum of ground can be covered. Maybe one-minute questions, three-minute answers.

What would you ask Tilghman? I've got a few questions for her, and I'd also like to hear what others might ask. It could even help this newspaper tailor its coverage to the issues people care most about.

In the end, students and the administration have everything to gain from a town meeting. Both sides win by finding out what's on the other's mind. David Robinson is a philosophy major from Potomac, Md. His column appears on alternate Thursdays. He can be reached at dgr@princeton.edu.