By The Mac Weekly

Over the past two weeks, Macalester faculty and students listened as four candidates for the IGC Dean presented their vision for the future of the Institute. We had hoped to be able to strongly endorse one candidate, but all of them hit so many of the same talking points that it seems the future of the IGC is all but settled, no matter who is hired. This is not a bad thing – the candidates repeatedly offered exciting ideas, which means there will be no wrong choice for Provost Kathleen Murray. With that said, we would like to offer a brief caveat: the candidates all focused on somewhat abstract ideals of interdisciplinary pursuit and cross-departmental dialogue. These sound nice, but they cannot be separated from or prioritized over creating programming that affects students. When students express frustration or ambivalence about the IGC, it is because they feel it has no impact on their college experience. The goals of the IGC are admirable, so let’s make sure they are turned into practice – with an emphasis on the student experience.