 "Photo: Tamir Kalifa/The Daily Texan")
UT President William Powers bestowed his seal of approval on the grilled chicken and salad served in Jester Center West on Tuesday.
Powers joined 30 resident assistants for lunch in Jester’s all-you-can-eat dining hall to hear about issues concerning the student body directly from students. Every resident assistant on campus received an e-mail invitation, and the students were selected on a first come first serve basis.
The attendees had the chance to ask Powers about life on campus or anything else they had on their minds. And they did — Powers fielded questions about everything from sustainability issues to the possibility of getting a day off if the Longhorns make it to the national championship.
“It’s not actually within my legal rights to cancel a day of classes scheduled by the state,” Powers said. “But that is a very serious issue.”
The offhand nature of the conversation gave the president an opportunity for levity generally absent from his routine.
Corporate communications junior Diane Nguyen did use the occasion to bring up a serious issue. She asked Powers what opportunities the University will have to expand in the next five to 10 years in the face of a flat University budget.
“We’re close to where we want to be in terms of the number of students we admit,” Powers said. “And the adjustment in the top 10 percent rule will give us even more flexibility with our admissions procedure.”
Marketing and business honors sophomore Erica Brody said she wanted to ask the president about creating more leadership opportunities for freshmen.
“I think that’s a huge issue,” Brody said. “I know a lot of freshmen in my hall that might want to be more involved on campus, but it’s very difficult, and they might not know how.”
Powers did briefly address some of the budget concerns facing the University, but for the most part, the mood at the luncheon was lighthearted.
He sat at the head of a table, next to a student wearing an “I Heart Powers” T-shirt.
When an RA asked if it would be possible for the president to have more regular communication with students, Powers said the school was working on developing a some type of blog — but probably not a Facebook or a Twitter.
Zak Kinnaird, a writer for the Texas Travesty and owner of the cheeky T-shirt, got a chance to chat with the man the Travesty devoted a center spread to last year. Kinnaird was one of the primary contributors to a fake Twitter account maintained by the Travesty which poked fun at Powers. The account was shut down by the social networking site in May.
Powers thought the Travesty coverage and the fake Twitter were both funny and didn’t hold any grudge toward him, Kinnaird said. He added that Powers was a personal hero of his, as well as “a very stylish and classy man.”
“This is the first time I met the president, and I did appreciate his sweet baritone voice,” Kinnaird said. “But I didn’t feel like there was enough time to get to know the man that is Powers.”
Kinnaird might not have been satisfied with his one-on-one time with the president, but Powers gave the group some general life advice.
“The only thing that gives me any ability to talk about this is the fact that I’ve lived a very long time,” Powers said. “But if you’re excited when you get on the bus or train or car in the morning, and you’re excited when you get on the bus or the train or the car in the evening, I’d say you’re pretty lucky.”
what starts here changes the world — the world, not a librarystudents focused on finding jobs are finding that employers are increasingly as apathetic about GPA as the youth are about getting their asses out of bed and changing campus for the better.