After much deliberation between faculty and students at ASG senate, the decision on last week’s proposed resolution to rescind Karl Eikenberry’s appointment as Executive Director of the Buffett Institute for Global Studies is … being postponed.
Weinberg senior Erik Baker presented a motion to postpone a vote on the bill until, at a to be determined date, there is first a one-hour forum to discuss the details of Karl Eikenberry’s appointment and qualifications and then senate discussion. ASG President Noah Star explained that to ensure the best and fairest decision, it was imperative for students to have have a better opportunity to engage with the faculty and the material being presented.
“This is a very big decision that has ramifications for the University’s future hiring process, for the future of the institution and to make any decision about whether or not we want to sign our name or not onto the resolution without knowing the full extent of what happened at the faculty senate and the hiring process to the best of our abilities as students would be inappropriate,” Star said.
Due to the two-minute time constraints on each speaker, the debate became a back and forth, with several conflicting pieces of information presented and little substantial proof or sufficient explanation. Everything from exactly what Eikenberry’s job description would be, how he was selected, what happened during the faculty senate and more, was unclear.
“This is an unprecedented combination of faculty governance, administrative decision and student legislative sovereignty that required much more diligence than we have been able to put into this meeting,” Star said.
Sixteen members of senate agreed to postpone the vote, 12 disagreed and two abstained.
ASG senate began with Weinberg sophomore Nehaarika Mulukutla being sworn in as speaker of the senate and Medill sophomore Shelby Reitman being sworn in as ASG’s parliamentarian, thus taking over the roles of Matt Clarkson and Scott Spicer, respectively.