By: Jeweliana Register
President Hanbury hosted a student town hall meeting on Feb. 15 in the Club Room on the second floor of the Don Taft University Center. Students and faculty gathered to listen to Hanbury’s announcements regarding changes and accomplishments of NSU in recent months. The floor was then opened to questions for Hanbury.
Questions touched on studying during student employment hours, student involvement and activities, the female-to-male ratio at NSU, the progress of the Muslim prayer room, adjunct professors, rapidly changing education, funding for Maasti, tutoring, sustainability and Trump’s executive order on immigration.
When asked about the possibility of trying to even out the female-to-male ratio in Razor’s Edge programs, Hanbury responded by saying that he does not have a goal of limiting participation in academics or organizations by gender, but that statistically nationwide, more women are attending college than men. He said he would love to see more male participation and leadership within higher education, but he welcomes all leadership.
During the town hall, Dean Williams addressed a question regarding a Muslim prayer room on campus.
“Pan Student Government and Undergraduate Student Government have raised the concern…and Pan Student Government has indicated that because of geography on campus, we’d need two prayer rooms,” Williams said. He then said that the staff is working to find space on campus as quickly as possible.
Hanbury was asked about a recent email concerning studying on the job during student employment, and he explained why he thinks students should not be allowed to study while working.
“It’s like being a student athlete,” Hanbury said. “We want our athletes to be great students, but you cannot be studying on the basketball court. You have got to be studying off the basketball court. You are a student first and an employee second. You are working and being paid to do a job. You are not being paid to study.”
When asked about how sustainable our campus is, Hanbury spoke about an order he enacted on the first day of his presidency to make NSU a smoke-free campus. He said he believes this has improved the university’s health by improving our air supply. President Hanbury also spoke about how the buildings being built, as well as buildings constructed within the past ten years, are LEED-certified green buildings.
In response to a question about what the university is doing in regards to Trump’s executive order on immigration, Hanbury said that it is difficult for him to take a stand on something that is creating controversy and is being misinterpreted by so many people.
Hanbury said, “To the best of my knowledge, every student here has a student visa and is legal. We have never been asked by law enforcement if our students are legal, and unless there is a warrant, we are not allowed to provide confidential information. We want all students to feel safe and we always encourage diversity.”
During the video shown at the beginning of the event, Hanbury explained the expansion of the health divisions and the need for expansion in upcoming years. Hanbury said he anticipated that the University Park Plaza will be torn down within the next 18 months to accommodate for expansions. The president also announced that NSU was ranked by the U.S. News and World Report as one of the top 200 Best Colleges in National Universities, and shared his hope that the university will be ranked in the top 100 by 2020.
“I appreciate President Hanbury taking the time to hear our issues and questions we have,” Alyssa Boltson, junior psychology major, said. “This is one of the reasons why I love NSU so much because no other schools offer this to the students.”
If you have comments or questions for the president, email askthepresident@nova.edu.
