By Katie Havranek

Brian Stephenson ’10 was named the third student liaison to the Board of Trustees this week. He will be taking over for Franz Meyer ’09 starting next fall. The student liaison facilitates communication between the student body and the Board of Trustees. The liaison does this by meeting with senior staff and student groups and by reporting to student government after each Board meeting.Students must serve a year on a Board committee to be eligible for the position, and this semester there were two candidates. “It was impossible to make a poor choice, but in the end Brian was chosen,” Meyer said.

Stephenson submitted a written application and was interviewed by Meyer and four student government representatives. Stephenson said he plans to make the senior staff rounds with Meyer in the upcoming days.

As liaison, Meyer trained committee representatives, which, he said, allowed students to be more informed about issues facing the college and created an independent channel of information. Meyer predicts that challenges facing the new liaison will involve the financial crisis.

“The Trustees, who think long term about the college as an institution and its viability, and the students, who currently attend and give Mac its reputation and its culture, may potentially be at odds,” Stephenson said. “At this critical stage, I think it is immensely important to have clear communication between them.