By Mike Sherr
Editor-in-Chief
The Board of Trustees hosted two open campus fora for both candidates for interim president, where members of the campus community could hear directly from the candidates and ask them questions.
“This [was] not only an opportunity for us to learn about them, but also an opportunity for them to learn about what makes TCNJ special,” said Chairman Rebecca Ostrov in an email sent to the campus community.
William Behre spoke on June 6 and Michael Bernstein presented on June 8.
Bernstein obtained a bachelor’s, two master’s and a doctorate degree from Yale University, all in economics. He has worked as an educator at the University of San Diego, Princeton University, Yale University and the University of Cambridge in England.
He has previously held positions as the dean of Arts and Humanities at the University of San Diego as well as provost at Tulane University. Bernstein later went on to spend almost four years as provost of Stony Brook University before being appointed as Stony Brook’s interim president in 2019.
While interim president at Stony Brook, Bernstein navigated and reduced the university’s $18 million budget deficit, according to The Statesman, the student newspaper at Stony Brook. Part of Bernstein’s attempt to repair the university’s finances was the freezing of hiring and adding 2,800 seats to classes across the university in one semester. Bernstein also created a plan to increase enrollment at the university, a path the College could possibly take.
During a press conference with student media, according to an opinion piece published by The Statesman, students felt as if he was uninterested in the ongoings of the student body. The Statesman did find, however, that Bernstein answered many in-depth questions about the administration with transparency.
Bernstein has previously been a permanent presidential candidate at both Stony Brook and the University of Iowa at different points.
Bernstein stepped down as provost at Stony Brook after his tenure as interim president in 2020. He is currently employed at Keeling and Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in higher education.
With only two Board of Trustees meetings left in the academic year, it is likely that the College will announce which of the final candidates will be interim president soon. The final two meetings will occur on June 13 at 6:30 p.m. over Zoom and on June 27 at a time to be determined.
