Student input points to accessibility emphasis
At Tuesday’s Student Government Association meeting, students expressed their concerns for a greater religious emphasis at TCU and an appreciation for Chancellor Michael Ferrari’s contributions to the university.
By EMILY TURNER
Staff Reporter

When Chris Mattingly lived in Milton Daniel Hall his freshman year, he said he remembers his friend e-mailing Chancellor Michael Ferrari about a water problem he was experiencing in his residence hall room.

“Within three days he had environmental specialists out to Milton to check the water,” said Mattingly, a junior international finance and accounting major.

Mattingly and other students said it will be difficult to find a chancellor as accessible to students and as motivated as Ferrari.

More than 50 students from the House of Student Representatives and other walk-ins asked questions and shared their opinions regarding the search for a new chancellor Tuesday night at an open forum hosted by the Student Government Association. A question and answer session was held with search committee chairman R. Denny Alexander and Bill Funk, a committee member and managing director of the education system at Korn/Ferry International, an executive search firm. The university plans to find a new chancellor by the spring.

Brian Casebolt, a senior political science major, said after four years he is convinced TCU is an exceptional school and credits this claim to Ferrari.

“Although it is not Harvard or Yale, TCU is aspiring to do great things,” Casebolt said. “We need someone who will have the same excitement as Ferrari.”

Although students said they hope to find a successor equal to Ferrari’s passion for TCU, some said they also want a chancellor who will focus on emphasizing the foundation of the university. The majority of the students attending the forum expressed concern for more religious incorporation into their classes and in the campus atmosphere.

Jennifer Scott, a freshman interior design major, said she is concerned with the lack of enrollment of Disciples of Christ students. She said the university should recruit more students of this denomination because the school was founded on the principles of its church.

“I came to TCU thinking that my religion would be prevalent,” Scott said. “After I came here I realized that this is not the case.”

Mattingly said it is important for the new chancellor to understand the religious foundation of the university and to have a strong desire to improve TCU. He said Ferrari’s successor does not have to belong to the Disciples of Christ religion, but should be knowledgeable about the church’s teachings.

“They have to know what our school is about and believe what our school is about,” Mattingly said.

Alexander said the search for a new chancellor is a long process that requires students’ input.

“This is a very important job,” Alexander said. “We are in the communication stage right now.”