Hearing voices and echoing them

With a thick New Zealand accent and few friends, Kaiyi Xie wasn't one of the cool kids in middle school.

The sophomore mathematics and bioengineering major said it wasn't until becoming active in speech and debate, mock trial and his high school's student government that he found the skills to communicate with all kinds of people. And as a representative on the 19-member presidential search committee, Xie's communication skills will come in handy.

Xie is the only undergraduate student on the committee, making his task particularly daunting: making sure that undergraduate student voices are heard in picking a new university president.

"This is one of the more pressured situations I've been in," he said.

And Xie is no stranger to pressure.He's moved from China to New Zealand to the United States; translated for a team of Chinese Red Cross doctors after the Sichuan earthquake in 2008; and he's the youngest-ever Student Government Association director of student groups.

Xie was initially nominated to the committee along with four other students by SGA President Steve Glickman, SGA Director of Administrative Affairs Sterling Grimes, SGA Director of Environmental Affairs Joanna Calabrese and Stamp Student Union Assistant Director for Student Engagement Joe Calizo. The names of the five nominees, which have not been released, were passed onto University System of Maryland Chancellor Brit Kirwan, who picked Xie.

Glickman said they nominated Xie because of the dialogue he already has with students as director of student groups: He dreamed up and organized this semester's Multicultural Expo, for example, in which different student groups will showcase their talents in a weeklong event.

"We chose him because he had a very broad view of campus, and we wanted somebody who would be able to incorporate all the different perspectives our university has, especially when making a decision like choosing the new president," Glickman said. "He understands that they are different communities that our campus incorporates."

Xie plans to bring a student perspective to the presidential search. In order to gauge what students want to see in a new president, he said, he would hold an open forum where all students could come and discuss what their interests and priorities are for the university's future.

The search committee will have general town hall-style meetings in the next couple of months as a forum for public opinion, where Xie ultimately wants students to bring their thoughts directly to the table.

"Students want input into the administration," he said. "Students want to get their voices heard."

Xie said he thinks Kirwan's choice was ultimately directed by his own abilities to engage and bring together all different kinds of students. Though his academics are firmly grounded in mathematics and science, he's been vice president of the university debate team and in Engineers Without Borders, and has worked since last semester to jump-start student group websites.

During his tenure as director of student groups, Xie created the Student Group Involvement Center — a room in the Student Involvement Suite in the student nion that groups without regular office space can use.

"In SGA, I'm not in the traditional, you know, planning the policies, doing the bills," he said. "I've been trying to work with more student groups, getting diverse opinions on-campus heard by the administration, by SGA, and that's mainly my job here now, to get student voices heard."

Xie said he'll be more of representative than politician, emphasizing he wants to be a megaphone for student voices.

"I'm not going to pretend to say I know what students want, because that's for students to decide," he said. "I think mainly my job is to facilitate, not to just dictate."

Although Xie was reluctant to speculate as to what student priorities might be, he said accessibility will likely be a key issue, especially after last semester's student outrage and frustration following Associate Provost for Equity and Diversity Cordell Black's dismissal.

"I want to see the administration actually setting up ... avenues for students to get their voices heard," Xie said. "It's not just simply them saying, ‘I want to hear the students' voices.' It's them actually putting forth the plan, saying, ‘This is how I'm going to get this done.'"

aisaacs@umdbk.com