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As students return to campus this fall, questions about who will lead the University of Michigan continue to loom. Following former University President Santa Ono\u2019s surprise resignation<\/a> last May, the University has begun<\/a> the search for his replacement. The Presidential Search Advisory Committee<\/a>, named in August, has set out to select the candidate they believe will best serve the U-M community. Committee members include the University Board of Regents and a mixture of prominent faculty and staff. There are only two students \u2014 one undergraduate and one graduate.<\/p>\n The committee has its work cut out for it. Choosing the right leader for one of the largest and most renowned public universities in the world is a difficult undertaking even in normal times. Now, the task is even more onerous. As students of the University, the Editorial Board would be remiss not to outline the qualities, characteristics and values that we believe the committee should prioritize when finding the future president.<\/p>\n Ono\u2019s tenure can serve as a teaching moment, and the committee would do well to learn from both his mistakes and successes. The failures in the latter half of his term often obscure the fact that he came to campus a popular<\/a> man. In the wake of his predecessor\u2019s scandalous final days, Ono played an integral role in making the University believe in itself again. He was omnipresent and fiercely positive, posing in photos with students, appearing at football games and engaging with the U-M community on social media.<\/p>\n Now that Ono is gone, the University needs a similarly restorative figure. As one faculty member put it in a recent Letter to the Editor<\/a>, the campus deserves \u201ca cheerleader-in-chief.\u201d This Editorial Board agrees. Putting a fractured U-M community back together will not only require a tactful administrator but also an upbeat leader willing to meet students where they are.<\/p>\n