Students divided over Jischke’s decision
May 25, 2000
With the announcement that President Martin Jischke is leaving Iowa State to be president of Purdue University, some students are expressing respect for the man who led Iowa State’s quest to be the nation’s best land-grand university, while others say his politics won’t be missed.
Daniel Anderson, graduate student in forestry, said he understands why Jischke would elect for the move to West Lafayette, Ind., a high-profile university with an impressive endowment.
“It’s a choice job. He decided to jump ship when the jumping was good,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he believes Jischke’s legacy will last at Iowa State and that the next president won’t differ too much on policy issues.
“I don’t agree with a lot of [Jischke’s policies],” Anderson said. “But they’re in the institution now, and I think they’ll stay.”
Government of the Student Body President, Ben Golding, said he thinks students ultimately will be apathetic about Jischke’s decision to move to Purdue.
“There was no real sign about it coming out of the semester,” Golding said. “There will be a lot of presumptions because of a lot of the negative attitudes flying around in the spring semester.”
Golding said it may be a shock to the system when the majority of ISU students return in the fall with an interim president in Jischke’s place.
“It will be up to the new interim president on how they will explain it,” Golding said. “I think there will be a lot more student interest in who the next president will be.”
Angie Carlton, senior in psychology, said her feelings about Jischke’s decision are mixed.
“I don’t think he fully represented students’ feelings, especially for Veishea,” Carlton said. “But I thought some of the things he did were decent.”
Edwin Morris, senior in community health education, said he didn’t agree with all of Jischke’s actions as president but still liked him as Iowa State’s leader.
“He was an excellent leader and fund-raiser,” Morris said. “Personally, I’m not happy about him going to Purdue.”
Jischke’s fund-raising prowess doesn’t please every ISU student. Scott Eitriem, senior in mechanical engineering, said he believes Jischke’s fund raising, while incredibly successful, put too much of an emphasis on research.
“He seems like he’s really interested in research and not undergraduate students,” Eitriem said. “It seems like he was taking money away from undergraduate studies.”