The search for a new athletic director is in full swing, and the community is having its say in the process. The athletic director search committee has narrowed the field to four final candidates: Barbara Chesler, senior associate director of athletics, Yale University; Suzanne Coffey, director of athletics and department chair, Bates College; David Hixon '75, co-acting athletic director, Amherst College; Peter P. Roby, director, Center for the Study of Sport in Society and associate athletic director, Northeastern University. Each candidate is given the opportunity to meet with the community at large before the final selection is made.

Dubbed "town meetings" by the search committee, part of the selection process includes a presentation and a question and answer session with each candidate. Chesler was the first to visit Amherst when she spent the day on April 17. Roby visited on Monday, and Hixon and Coffey will make their presentations to the campus next week. "I think it is a great thing to have these meetings," said football Head Coach E. J. Mills. "I obviously feel that this is a very important hire in the athletic department and a big job in the community. The search committee is being as thorough as possible."

After meeting with numerous people throughout the day-including the search committee, coaches and faculty members-the candidate's "town meeting" commences. Monday's forum with Roby was well-attended by coaches and members of the athletic department, with a few students and faculty members present as well. "The candidates go through a long process and meet all kinds of people from all over campus during the day," said Mills. "It's nice to end with a question and answer session with the faculty and students."

In this setting, students are able to give their own views about Amherst's athletics. David Litt '06 raised the issue of academic-athletic conflicts that many student-athletes have to resolve. "The current athletic-class conflict system is inadequate," said Litt. "Students won't identify themselves as athletes to professors, or take certain classes because they are put in an uncomfortable position by the class conflicts. We need to implement some kind of policy that puts the onus on both students and faculty."

Even though the entire Anherst community is invited to these "town meetings," it does not seem like everyone is taking advantage of this opportunity to meet with the candidates, given the low number of students and faculty that attended. Recently named 2006-07 Hitchcock Fellow Julia Rucker '06 expressed concern over this fact. "As the Hitchcock Fellow I will be working with the new athletic director, but I wish more students were involved," she said. "With so many athletes on campus it is important for the students to know the athletic director and what he or she stands for."

There are two more opportunities to meet the athletic director candidates in the "town meeting" setting. Hixon will present on May 1 at 7:30 in Pruyne Lecture Hall and Coffey's session will be on May 4 at the same time and place.