Sometimes it seems like life at Loyola unfolds within a series of bubbles. Our campus is tiny and our buildings are few, but somehow, even the comfortable walking distance between departments can feel like miles.
Which brings us to our point: what’s the deal with all these emails about the provost search? Some of us are nodding our heads as if to say: “Yeah, I read those emails; I’m in the know.” Others are scratching their heads, wondering: “Email? Provost? Huh?”
Perhaps this disconnect emerges out of an unfortunate necessity to compartmentalize. We are students, scurrying from class to class, churning out research papers into the wee hours, juggling jobs and social obligations. We are professors, fighting through piles of essays, making time for family, making time for life.
With our sunglasses set to tunnel vision, we do what have to do to get our jobs done while maintaining some semblance of sanity. Occasionally, we sleep. The best among us find time to check our Wolfmail inboxes.
Once logged into our Wolfmail accounts, however, we find yet another collection of bubbles. Many of us let our emails build into an unnavigable chaos of subject headings and spam, never deleted and rarely read. Some of us read what feels relevant to us, only to delete all else that remains.
No matter how one chooses to compartmentalize their Wolfmail messages, the creation of bubbles is inevitable. Few have time to read every single email. Therefore, when a series of emails began showing up in our inboxes regarding something called a “provost,” how many of us bothered to read on?
Not everyone has been so apathetic toward the university’s search for a new provost. However, due to the necessity to compartmentalize, having the entire Loyola community on-board and informed during this search simply has not been possible.
Kudos to those who have been receptive to the university’s efforts to reach out and keep us informed. For the rest of us, this is what a provost is, and this is why you should care: Our future provost will work directly beneath our president, overseeing administration, evaluating academic programs, allocating resources and handling budgeting as well as co-curricular activity.
As Loyola’s second in command, the provost has a hand in just about everything we care about. This is the bubble that affects all other bubbles.
With Loyola’s centennial on the horizon, we at The Maroon can only hope that our new provost will be one that is as transparent and receptive to our needs as Loyola has been during this selection process. This is an exciting time to join the Wolfpack, and our ideal provost is one with both the experience to uphold our Jesuit ideals and the gumption to shake things up when the necessity for change arises.
So as you shuffle about your day-to-day, if ever you find yourself dissatisfied with the state of your own bubble, look to your new provost – whomever that may be.
