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Syracuse University students stressed the importance of visibility, transparency and city-and-campus engagement in a new chancellor at a Sunday engagement session with the Board of Trustee’s chancellor search committee.

The engagement session, one of two planned so far, aimed to receive feedback from students before the committee develops potential candidates. The committee hosted a similar engagement session for faculty, alumni and community members at Drumlin’s Country Club Sunday afternoon.

SU chancellor Kent Syvreud announced he would step down from his position at the end of the academic year in an Aug. 26 email. On Sept. 19, SU’s board of trustees announced the 24 member search committee, led by co-chairs Shelly Fisher and Lisa Fontenelli, composed of trustees, staff members, students and faculty members.

The forum included five panelists: Fisher and Fontenelli, along with Michele Haertel, Ponneh Varho and Michael Steck, representatives from Spencer Stuart, the committee’s consulting firm. The panelists asked students about what attributes they seek in a chancellor and answered questions about the search process.

After the hour meeting, students felt mixed emotions about the committee’s approach of listening to students.

Kenny Lanterman, vice president of community and government affairs at SU’s Student Government Association, spoke highly of the panelists and their interest in student input despite low turnout.

“The people in that room are very committed to hearing students’ voices,” Lanterman said. “I think they’re going through a hard process, and it’s important that we give off that feedback.”

Lanterman said the key to a good chancellor is one that’s present and practices transparency with students. He hopes with the student engagement sessions, the committee prioritizes this too.

“We need to have a chancellor who is as transparent as possible,” Lanterman said. “I think Chancellor Syverud has done a very good job at trying to do that and hopefully that continues with this next chancellor.”

During the session, Abdirahman Abdi, a senior studying African American Studies and Citizenship and Civic Engagement, advocated for a new chancellor who prioritizes bridging the gap between the university and the greater city.

“I feel like my voice is heard. If it wasn’t heard, I’ll hold a lot of people accountable,” Abdi said.

Another student who attended the event, who asked to remain anonymous, said while he hoped he would learn about potential candidates for the position — who he feels should come internally from SU — he felt better after meeting the committee members in person.

The university can’t make potential candidates public out of respect for the candidates’ privacy and current positions at other institutions, Shelley told attendees. However, she said students who have nominations or suggestions for a candidate can reach out to the search committee via email.

This was significant to Katie Rogers, a senior studying biology and business analytics, who said the meeting provided clarity for the chancellor search process where certain university communications, such as emails and the chancellor search website, could not.

“There has been a lack of consistency throughout just my experience in the past four years, and I don’t think that it’s a lack of transparency, it’s a lack of effective communication.” Rogers said. “(Now) there’s not as much ambiguity.”

But sophomore policy studies major Derry Oliver said she doesn’t have a “definitive answer” on whether or not her points were taken seriously. She said the fact that the panelists didn’t take notes on the students’ points made her worried if her thoughts were actually taken into consideration.

“I hope what I’m saying is actually being heard and remembered, and taken into consideration, rather than like, ‘oh, I somewhat recall what happened, but not quite as well,” Oliver said.

Oliver expressed concern over the fact that only a handful of students showed up at the event. However, she has hopes that through advocacy and more engagement sessions, students will give helpful input to the new chancellor’s selection.

“There is hope but that hope can only be achieved if more students show up and fight for what they believe in,” Oliver said. “I really want to encourage students to show up and be present not only for themselves, but future students as well.”

Lanterman said he hopes more students engage in SU political processes, noting many avoid it out of fear their voices won’t be heard.

While Haertel noted the small number of attendees at the meeting, she said students can give their feedback at any time on an online survey or by emailing syracusechancellor@spencerstuart.com.

The next chancellor engagement session will be held virtually on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Published on September 21, 2025 at 11:38 pm
Contact Brenne: bsheeh03@syr.edu