Student inboxes have recently received a stream of e-mails from MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon. Although corny at times, the e-mails are a refreshing attempt by the university president to stay in touch with the student body.
Simon's first e-mail urged students to behave during the weekend of the U-M game. It was a bit cheesy and laden with football analogies; she even addressed students with the weak moniker "Team MSU." Fortunately, subsequent e-mails from Simon are more direct and to the point, eschewing attempts to seem "cool," and instead addressing students as her peers.
Simon's e-mails have a personal feel to them, a stark contrast from the cold, professionally-crafted messages former university President M. Peter McPherson sent to the student body. One of Simon's e-mails even had a typo, as she remarked that the football team had a 3-1 record, rather than 4-1 record. Making a mistake and admitting it made her seem more human and relatable; like she just typed out the e-mail to friends. That never would have happened in a message from McPherson because his e-mails read like they were typed out by robots.
In a follow up e-mail after the loss to U-M, Simon thanked students for their good behavior during the weekend. Students have always been the first to receive blame for incidents that occur after tough MSU losses. If there was a riot Saturday night, students could have expected a flood of scolding e-mails in the inbox the next morning. Finally, someone is acknowledging the student body when a weekend passes without incident.
Aside from the e-mails, Simon has tried other ways to make herself accessible to students. She has a personal blog on the university Web site and often eats with students in dining halls.
It's even reasonable to suspect that more students have seen or spoken with Simon during her 10-month tenure than the amount of students that came in contact with McPherson in 10 years.
Slowly but surely, Simon is beginning to seem more like a person and less like an authoritative figure that sits high and mighty above the student body - a change for the better.
There is still work to be done in bridging the gap between the student body and MSU administrators, but Simon is taking large strides to close that gap.
