The second of three town hall meetings held by U of T’s Presidential Search Committee was poorly attended last Friday morning. Fewer than 20 U of T staff, students, and faculty showed up to say their piece on the qualities they felt the next president of the university should have.

“Do I really need this microphone?” Governing Council chair and search committee chair Rose Patten said in her opening remarks to the largely empty banks of seats.

“Our purpose in doing this,” said Patten, referring to the series of town hall meetings the committee is holding to gather advice on choosing a president, “is to keep with our commitment to consult as widely and deeply as possible the university community. This is the first time we have included a town hall in our search process.”

After Patten’s brief opening remarks, the floor was opened to speakers from the audience. An awkward silence descended on the room until one staff member-who declined to give The Varsity his name-piped up from the last row of seats.

“I’ve been here for about ten years,” he said, “and before that I was a student. Maybe the president shouldn’t be a ‘super’ person. This university was built on normal people.”

“So my word to the committee is,” he concluded, “make sure you search for someone who is not bigger than the university. The university should be bigger than the person.”

“I think the president needs to be a cheerleader,” said Marilyn Van Norman of Student Services. “They need to have a passion and a pride in the university.”

There were obvious differences of opinion among the assembled audience, although disagreements were politely phrased.

“I think that the next president should have an international academic reputation,” said Catherine McKinnon of the Office of Advancement, moments after another participant had said “I’d rather have a great politician as a president than the best academic.”

“I would say an international reputation as a scholar is important,” McKinnon continued. “We need someone with adaptability, someone willing to make mistakes and move on and be resilient.”

“The president is more than a full-time job here,” said another audience member. “I can’t see how the president could also be a researcher. I can’t think that a good president could see it as a hobby. I’d like the committee to choose someone who sees this as their focus.”

Several participants asked whether it was time for U of T to hire its first female president.

“Has their ever been a woman president of U of T?” asked one. “Perhaps the committee would consider making history by hiring one.”

“It would be nice to have the first female president of U of T,” said another.

There were very few students at the meeting, so most of the issues discussed were related to how the new president would relate to staff.

“Sessionals [non-tenured instructors] and TAs…teach up to 70 per cent of students’ classroom hours,” said Colman Hogan of the CUPE 3902 union local, which represents sessional instructors, Teaching Assistants, and other contract staff at U of T. “I would like to see that the president is acknowledging that.”

One participant complained that he didn’t know what the job of the president really was.

“The only time you hear about the president is when he makes a boo-boo at a meeting, or says something he’s not supposed to say,” he said. “I have no idea what he does during the day.”

P.C. Choo, who represents U of T staff on the Governing Council, lightened the mood at one point.

“I want the committee to assure me,” he said, “that the next president will not be someone named Bob. We had Bob Prichard, Bob Birgeneau, and if you believe Maclean’s magazine, the next one could be Bob Rae.” The audience laughed, while the committee members, who have been vigorously downplaying Rae’s name ever since Maclean’s speculated on his candidacy, didn’t seem so amused. “I’m joking,” Choo added.

When the moderator asked if there were any last words, there was a shout of “good luck” from the back of the room.

“Thank you for coming. You’ll be hearing more from us,” Patten told the audience in closing, surveying the scores of empty seats. “And hopefully we’ll be hearing more from you.”