Looking back on University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg's legacy after 18 years at the helm of The George Washington University will inevitably invoke nostalgia, fondness and anger - depending on whom you ask.
He has been here too long to simply go down in history as a good or bad president. Trachtenberg's time here is filled with both success and failure, bold ideas that failed fantastically and new initiatives that left an indelibly positive mark on the University. Regardless of the outcome of his individual projects, however, Trachtenberg always displayed a sincere drive to build GW into a premier educational institution.
And build he has. During his tenure, the campus has changed dramatically; it's now a place almost unrecognizable to pre-Trachtenberg-era graduates. Along with the expanding campus came expanding national prestige for a onetime commuter school. During his 18-year tenure Trachtenberg has molded Foggy Bottom how he saw fit. But even that wasn't enough - he also bought the Mount Vernon Campus and put GW in Virginia.
This drive to develop garners Trachtenberg both fans and detractors. While students and faculty benefit from new residence halls and state-of-the-art facilities, community members see Trachtenberg as the epitome of evil, ready to bulldoze every last Foggy Bottom townhouse in the pursuit of campus expansion.
Trachtenberg financed this campus expansion through a keen business sense, which often allowed the University to expand beyond its means in hopes that investments would pay off with higher enrollment and returns on property. The D.C. Chamber of Commerce even named Trachtenberg businessman of the year for 2005.
Many refused to admit that a president could simultaneously advocate for academic and business interests, but Trachtenberg always saw these two as intertwined. Critics portrayed him as more interested in revenue than in education. But he seems to be in the business of academics, here to provide services to the various campus community members who count on him - from students to custodians, faculty to administrators. Trachtenberg knows that a first-rate faculty might not teach in second-rate facilities. First-rate students are keen shoppers who want the best services even if they are peripheral to academics.
He has been here too long to simply go down in history as a good or bad president. Trachtenberg's time here is filled with both success and failure, bold ideas that failed fantastically and new initiatives that left an indelibly positive mark on the University. Regardless of the outcome of his individual projects, however, Trachtenberg always displayed a sincere drive to build GW into a premier educational institution.
And build he has. During his tenure, the campus has changed dramatically; it's now a place almost unrecognizable to pre-Trachtenberg-era graduates. Along with the expanding campus came expanding national prestige for a onetime commuter school. During his 18-year tenure Trachtenberg has molded Foggy Bottom how he saw fit. But even that wasn't enough - he also bought the Mount Vernon Campus and put GW in Virginia.
This drive to develop garners Trachtenberg both fans and detractors. While students and faculty benefit from new residence halls and state-of-the-art facilities, community members see Trachtenberg as the epitome of evil, ready to bulldoze every last Foggy Bottom townhouse in the pursuit of campus expansion.
Trachtenberg financed this campus expansion through a keen business sense, which often allowed the University to expand beyond its means in hopes that investments would pay off with higher enrollment and returns on property. The D.C. Chamber of Commerce even named Trachtenberg businessman of the year for 2005.
Many refused to admit that a president could simultaneously advocate for academic and business interests, but Trachtenberg always saw these two as intertwined. Critics portrayed him as more interested in revenue than in education. But he seems to be in the business of academics, here to provide services to the various campus community members who count on him - from students to custodians, faculty to administrators. Trachtenberg knows that a first-rate faculty might not teach in second-rate facilities. First-rate students are keen shoppers who want the best services even if they are peripheral to academics.
