UW-Madison has been without a capable dean of students for too long.

Problems with accessibility to students, commitment to academic freedom, adjusting to the campus climate and being a liaison for students to the administration have plagued past deans. The university must choose a new dean who has the vision and skills to revamp the musty back-of-Bascom office.

In the past three weeks the four finalists visited campus, spending a whirlwind two days in interviews with administrators, faculty, staff and students. They told us their visions for the position and of their position in life. Out of the four (Ivor Emmanuel, Luolou Hong, Randi S. Schneider and Donald A. Schutt, Jr.), Hong is clearly the best candidate to turn the dean of students office around.

At Louisiana State and Shepard College in West Virginia, Hong said she learned from experience that she must be accessible beyond the 9-to-5 working day. At her current job as assistant vice president for student affairs and dean of students, Hong is always on call. She has dealt with calls from students at all hours of the night and has learned to work her life around the fact that the job of being dean of students never stops. “Life in a fishbowl” was hard for Alecia Chavez, but Hong could handle it.

In addition, she cited specific examples from her time at LSU, a university similar in size and problems to UW, as to how she deals with issues such as campus climate. The other candidates did not seem to have a full grasp of the circumstances at UW nor how to improve the climate, even the internal candidate, Schutt.

For years, Hong has been working with parallel issues and her addition to the dialogue at UW will bring forth some much-needed new ideas and approaches to campus climate.

And she knows academic freed speech cannot be stifled merely because it makes someone uncomfortable, rather that the dean must help facilitate a discussion between differing student groups. She said she is also willing to stick her neck out for students with the administration.

But the indication Hong is the best candidate was her interaction with students. She made it known that her office door would be open to students and that although the internal office needs a strong administrator, overseeing students and student programs are her priorities.

Vice Chancellor Paul Barrows and Chancellor Wiley need to remember students when choosing who will be the next dean. The students need someone up on Bascom to mediate in their interest with the administration while being the voice of students. Luolou Hong is the best candidate to do just that.