Westfield State University Interim President, Roy Saigo, July 2020. (WESTFIELD STATE UNIVERSITY PHOTO)
WESTFIELD- As the country continues to struggle with the coronavirus pandemic, students are either returning to their education or must face the prospect of doing so in the coming days and weeks.
This struggle appears consistent across all student age groups, including those of college age, and Westfield State University’s students are no exception.
WSU is on the cusp of having one of its most unique and challenging years in living memory. Former University President Ramon S. Torrecilha retired in July, about a year-and-a-half after having a vote of no confidence levied against him by the university faculty.
Taking his place is Interim President Roy. H. Saigo, Ph.D, a man with a diversity of experiences who must now take the reigns of a university in the middle of a pandemic that will simply not subside. This takes place also while WSU faces questions about its past handling of cases of sexual misconduct and racism on campus.
Saigo, 80, has his Ph.D in Botany and Plant Pathology from Oregon State University and a B.A. degree in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Davis. His most recent position was that of president of Southern Oregon University.
Before that, he served as president of St. Cloud University, dean of the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Northern Iowa, vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at Southeastern Louisiana University, and chancellor at Auburn University Montgomery.
While he has decades of experience working in universities, the fall 2020 semester at WSU poses a unique challenge for him.
In the case of Southern Oregon University, Saigo was asked to help a university that was in trouble. The school had two retrenchments and one furlough, and at the time in 2014 they were budgeted for a 2.4 percent decrease in enrollment. Saigo ended his tenure there with a higher enrollment than when he started, bringing it up to a one percent increase.
President Saigo has been living on the WSU campus in New Hall since he first took the job. He said he has been making a point to get to know all of the staff and maintainers on campus before students begin in-person classes, which has been delayed until Sept. 29 due to COVID-19. Classes will begin online on Sept. 2.
“I was brought in to assist and to bring the university together,” said Saigo.
Saigo aimed to ease the fears of parents who may be apprehensive about sending their kids to college in the middle of a pandemic. He said that even in a world without COVID-19, a parent sending their child away can be a nerve wracking experience.
“The most precious thing in their lives is their kids. Suddenly, they are being pushed out of the nest and moved to an institution without their control and they expect that institution to take care of them,” said Saigo.
He said that WSU has the right protocols in place to keep students and faculty safe in the world of COVID-19. As long as students are on campus there will be testing, social distancing, and mask requirements. Should someone on campus test positive, they can be isolated in designated apartments. There are also contingency plans in place to move the university back to online-learning or a hybrid solution if local COVID-19 infections become out of control again.
“COVID-19 put us in a position to use technology to better their education,” said Saigo, “We are concerned about the safety of our students. We are concerned about the people who serve on campus, the faculty, the food service workers, and the maintainers. We know there are also students who have at risk parents and grandparents at home.”
A more detailed explanation of the WSU Fall 2020 Reopening plan can be found at http://www.westfield.ma.edu/safe-fall-opening.
While the university’s handling of COVID-19 is of greatest concern for many students and parents, concerns have been raised recently about the university’s handling of on-campus incidents of sexual misconduct and racism under previous administrations.
Dr. Saigo, a Japanese American man, was five-years-old when World War II ended. His first experience with racism in the United States started when he and his family were sent to a Japanese internment camp in Arizona with 10,000 other Japanese Americans. Tens of thousands of Japanese Americans were sent to such camps after President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed order 9066.
He said his experience on the receiving end of one of the darkest moments in American history helps him empathize with those who experience prejudice in 2020.
“There was no reason to incarcerate us. There were no spies, no submarines, no bombings. None of us subverted the United States, yet we were placed behind barbed wire,” said Saigo, “It has influenced my core values for my entire career. I am 80-years-old, I speak for those who have no voice”
Saigo said that he addressed the Anti-Oppression Council, who came back to him with a list of suggestions for handling such incidents at WSU. He shared those suggestions with the vice president of student affairs and the dean of students. Any issue that happens on campus, Saigo said, will be addressed and the administration will come out and publicly say why they could or could not solve the problem.
“Everything you are concerned about, I have experienced. If I haven’t experienced it, I have a sense of empathy for those who did,” said Saigo.
Saigo will serve as interim president for the full academic year. He will not be eligible to be selected as the next university president. Though he has not been on campus for very long, he had positive things to say about the school.
“I have often times said this: Don’t ask me about the education. Just look at the people who have graduated from here. Look at what they are doing, how they have aged, how they have grown,” said Saigo, “Our best show of a quality of education is when students go home and tell everyone how great the school is.”
