As most everyone on Grounds already knows, President John T. Casteen, III will be resigning at the end of this school year.
Without further ado, I would like to present the top four talking points that he will likely address during his final State of the University Address.
Safety first. With the tragic news about Morgan Dana Harrington still fresh on everyone's minds, I am sure that Casteen will lead off his speech with a lecture on safety. What I find astonishing is the lengths to which the University already goes in order to assure protection for its students. Most of this is alcohol-related, such as the Stall Seat Journals and the handful of e-mails sent out before Halloween, St. Patrick's Day, and Foxfields. What will be interesting to see is if Casteen will put the onus of responsibility on the students for their safety. Or perhaps he'll insist on something radically different, such as placing security cameras in five feet intervals across Grounds.
Second, "It's the economy, stupid." I had to borrow a James Carville quote for this point because it is so fitting and precise. Programs have been cut or downsized, staff members have been laid off, a hiring freeze was instituted and tuition has increased over the past year. In the meantime, millions continue to be poured into construction. Two notable examples include the South Lawn Project (necessary) and the addition of an attic to Pavilion X (not so necessary). Listeners and attendees of this historic State of the University address should take note of two issues - first, whether or not Casteen will cut back on wasteful spending and use it for academic purposes. Second, how much this decline - a mild decline compared to other Universities, but a decline nonetheless - has been caused by the economy or instead by questionable budgeting. It seems the answer to this question may appear in the first sentence of this paragraph.
Next up, Teresa A. Sullivan. Casteen is set to pass the torch to the president-elect Teresa A. Sullivan. What we should be watching and listening for is not going to come during Casteen's address. It will be during our tenure here under the new president. Sullivan is a relative unknown to most around here so she comes with a blank slate, free from outside prejudices. I have confidence that she will maintain, and likely improve, our academic prestige as well as our standing in the Charlottesville community. This part of the speech should not be long since Casteen should let Sullivan's future leadership do the talking. However, I'm willing to bet big bucks that buzzwords like "ground-breaking" or "77 cents on the dollar" will be the theme of the night.
Finally, the Mystery Man. This is the nickname that I would like to coin for Casteen. Admittedly, I have only been at the University for a little over five semesters, time that pales in comparison to most tenured faculty and staff. But, for all you first-years out there, some people get the impression that Casteen is aloof when it comes to certain non-financial issues. There are only about five times a year when Casteen will make a public appearance, and there are about five major events a year when his house on Carr's Hill gets used. Usually he's not there. Sometimes, I wonder if Casteen is just a figment of my imagination who only shows up on special occasions, not unlike that uncle you have that comes to family reunions but manages to wander off to the pond by himself. Maybe Casteen will fill us in as to where he's been all this time.
I know that being president of a large, southeastern university is extremely difficult. I realize that it is easy to criticize some of Casteen's actions and offer up quick fixes that have barely been thought out. I will admit that Casteen has done a great job in many aspects, most notably keeping the University from sinking amid this economic turmoil that we are facing. Still, political dissent catalyzes progress, and I would like to think of these four things as a "pre-buttal" to his State of the University remarks.
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