In his address to the Class of 2013, Burgwell Howard welcomed the incoming freshmen with an enthusiastic championing of Northwestern ideals. Raising his hand in a claw, he called for the audience to join him in the ritualistic Wildcat roar.
Howard, previously the interim dean of students at Northwestern University, was named to the position permanently as of Wednesday. In this interview, he spoke about his position on campus issues and what he hopes to accomplish in his term.
Why don’t we start with your responsibilities as the Dean of Students – what do those entail?
[laughs] I thought you were going to start with an easy question. The Dean of Students is really responsible for the life of students outside the classroom. It’s a broad area of responsibility: I [handle] student conduct, orientation and communication with parents. It seems like every day I discover new responsibilities.
Are there any specific issues that take priority?
I think over the past five-plus years, Northwestern has put lot of effort into strengthening the on-campus residential experience for students — from a safety standpoint, fiscal planning issues — but I think about a third of our undergraduate students live off-campus, and that has not gotten as much attention.
In your opinion, what is the best thing about the Northwestern student body?
They are creative and passionate, which is a plus and a minus because people are incredibly busy [laughs]. They have really great aspirations. For me personally, one of the reasons I came to Northwestern is because I enjoy working with students who clearly have ideas and are willing to work with me to push the institution forward.
Do you have any particular programs in mind that you’d like to enact for the student body?
One of the things that happens more easily in smaller universities is a concept of a unified purpose or a unified vision. I think one of the great challenges of Northwestern is that we are fragmented. We have a series of niches on campus – some are highly successful others are less so. People would feel more positive about their university experience if there were more opportunities for connections across the entire institution. That’s my overall goal. I want students to look back at their Northwestern experience in totality and think really positively about it – both inside the classroom and outside.
What is your position on the racial dynamics on campus?
We have made really good progress in the last year or so. Students and administrators have started to identify issues and are actively working on them. Are we the best place in the country? Not yet. Are we the worst place? Not by any means. The fact of the matter is that both students and faculty and staff have sort of begun to identify these things and ask, “What can we do to work together?” It’s really encouraging to me. So, we’re in the right direction, we have some work to do, but I’m feeling pretty positive about it right now.
What do you think the relationship between the undergraduate and graduate student body should be?
It should be a little more seamless than it is now. If you’re a student at Northwestern, I think of as truly as a community of learners, and we’re just at different stages. We have these very false walls between the undergraduate and graduate programs that I think can be more permeable. In terms of student life, I want to see Kellogg students at a basketball game in the fan section along with the undergrads – to feel that same kind of connection. Or going to a play, or using their Wildcard for benefits around town. In terms of the “One Northwestern” concept, I believe in that.
Are there any other campus issues that you feel should be addressed during your term?
Every Dean of Students always worries about alcohol – it’s at the root of 85 percent of the issues I deal with. I’m working with people to find a way to socialize and make this a fun place without having it be a dangerous place. I’ve already started having conversations with members of fraternities and students off-campus to get a sense of what the social life is like here. How can we tweak it? The ASG proposal for a new student center — is that one way that can address the need to be social? For those people who don’t want to have an off-campus party with jungle juice or whatever [laughs]. I want to find a way to have this place be fun, safe and have people feel included. I think it’s a really big part of what we’re going to be looking at this year.
Howard has been at Northwestern since 2005, serving as an assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs before assuming his duties as interim Dean of Students in July, 2009. He was previously employed by Bowdoin College, Colgate University and Dartmouth College, and plans to channel that experience with smaller universities and liberal arts colleges to Northwestern.