Millikin’s 17th President, Dr. Dean Pribbenow, is under a microscope, and Millikin students are fighting for the eyepiece.
On Monday, March 10th, Ronald Branch sent out an email announcing the 17th President of Millikin. Following former President Reynolds’ sudden departure from Millikin, this announcement was highly anticipated by students.
Senior Rochelle Pense shared her thoughts on the email when it came out.
“I don’t know how to feel because at first, I’m like, ‘Who is this guy?’” Pense said. “I attended two out of the four presidential candidate lunches, and his [lunch] was one of the ones I couldn’t go to. I just don’t know anything about him.”
Newly hired Pribbenow is a stranger to many students, but sophomore Ella Bianchi had the opportunity to go to lunch with him and various other students.
“He was actually pretty high on my list out of the candidates that I saw,” Bianchi said. “I thought he did a really good job of engaging with the students, which I think is something that was lacking with our previous President, so I think there’ll be a lot more camaraderie between the students and the President.”
To increase student involvement in the President’s hiring process, there were presidential candidate forums held for each of the four candidates. These forums were scheduled for 12PM-1PM each time they occurred.
Sophomore Kallie Weller had an issue with the timing of these forums.
“I had an issue [with the fact] that all of the [presidential meetings] students were able to attend regarding the hiring process were during the day when probably 98% of the student population at Millikin has classes,” Weller said. “I appreciate that the people involved in the hiring process wanted students to be able to have a voice, but it shows a very clear disconnect, and to me, a sense of disrespect, for all of those things to be made unavailable to the majority of the student population.”
However, those who were able to attend the forums had an amazing chance to ask the presidential candidates important questions.
“I wasn’t able to go see every candidate, but I thought it was a good opportunity to introduce them to Millikin,” Bianchi said. “We definitely went in with the hard questions, like stuff about The Woods, the dining hall, and all of those things that are hot issues on campus.”
Although there were students who had no clue who Pribbenow was when he was announced as the new President, Millikin’s article that announced his employment did a good job of introducing him to those who were not familiar with him.
Sophomore Deyn Ezell read the article introducing Pribbenow and has positive thoughts regarding his employment.
“From the research that I’ve done on the Millikin website, it seems like he is a very qualified candidate, and though he doesn’t exactly fit too many narrations of what would be diverse, it seems he is extremely hyper-focused on creating a diverse community for Millikin,” Ezell said.
The lack of diversity in this presidential pick is a large concern among students.
“I think it’s definitely interesting seeing men, specifically white men that could be considered of older age, consistently being elected into these same incredibly high-responsibility leadership positions,” Weller said.
In Millikin’s history, there have only ever been two diverse Presidents. The first is a woman, Peg Luy, in 2011. Luy served as interim President until Harold G. Jeffcoat took over. The second is a Black man, current acting President Ronald Branch.
Pribbenow cannot do anything about his lack of diversity, but he can promote a diverse and inclusive community at Millikin.
Provost Mary Black has known Pribbenow for several years now and can attest to his inclusivity as a leader.
“Dean is an inclusive leader who respects and seeks out a wide range of opinions when making decisions,” she said. “He has also demonstrated openness in communication and has a steadfast commitment to ethical leadership.”
Weller is ultimately disappointed in the new presidential pick, but she isn’t completely losing hope yet.
“Even though I’ve been outwardly very negative about this, I do believe that it’s entirely possible for [Pribbenow] to be a positive influence on campus, especially with students,” Weller said.
Weller was disappointed in former President Reynold’s lack of action, and she does not see this changing with Pribbenow as President.
“As far as I’m concerned, [Reynolds’] job was just to be President and have that little metaphorical plaque on him, and I have a feeling that it is probably not going to change with a new President,” Weller said. “So at least on my end, as somebody who’s a student who’s relatively involved in the happenings of campus, I doubt that I’ll see a noticeable change in anything, which, in general, sucks.”
Senior A’majeine Carson does not have any strong feelings about Pribbenow; she is just interested to see how he does as President.
“I wish him the best and hope he can find a home here at Millikin,” Carson said.
Ezell is excited about Pribbenow’s employment at Millikin and is excited to see what he does with student outreach.
“I can’t wait to see what kind of events he might try to put on to get to know the student body,” Ezell said.
Students will continue to feel these various emotions until Pribbenow takes office in July. Until then, students will continue to watch him closely to gauge what kind of President he may be.
Student Advice and Encouragement
