I didn’t want to attend The University of Massachusetts, Amherst when I graduated high school in 2001. I suffered from Massachusettsian Syndrome, or in scientific terms Yuppius Snottius Vulgaris. Students from Massachusetts are socialized to believe that upon graduation, they must matriculate to a private institution in the following fall or face ridicule from their graduating counterparts. Basically, in Massachusetts private universities and colleges are equivalent to the Reebok Pump craze of the late 80’s or the Starter Jacket insurgence of the early 90’s. I’m exaggerating, of course, but the fact remains that students in Massachusetts look down on public education.

I cried all the way up to orientation, angry that I was thrust into the cold world of the mainstream student. I was under the same impression as many people in this state: that Umass is a haven of idiots and mediocrity. (Don’t mistake me, we have our share of idiots, but our school is far from mediocre.)

Then, I reached Amherst center in my car and fell in love (as much as I fought it) with the artsy fartsy town. When I reached Umass – the piebald concrete jungle where no buildings match – I knew immediately that this was the place for me. Doesn’t that picture just give you a cavity? It gives me one too, so let’s get down to business.

Since Mitt Romney made it his personal crusade to oust Billy Bulger, we’re now president-less. No offense to Interim President What’s-His-Name, but if we learned anything from Interim Chancellor Marcette Marcy Williams, “interim” is just a fancy word for “chair-warmer.”

I want to apologize to the Board of Trustees for not being available at 3 p.m. to attend their meeting concerning who the next president of UMass should be. My advice for future meetings is this, schedule them at 7 p.m. – the dining commons closes and most of us who drink know that it’s trashy to start that early. We’ll be all ears. Because I was unable to attend that meeting that was so conveniently scheduled, I would like to drop my two pennies on the campus concerning who the next Mr. or Ms. President should be.

Massachusetts as a Commonwealth needs to realize that we are the life-blood of the community. Mitt Romney is sending us a message with budget cuts: Don’t start your business here, don’t start your family here, get your degree and get out of Dodge. Where does that leave Massachusetts? In the same financial crisis it has been in for the last decade or two.

What does the University of Massachusetts need? We need a president who understands what it is like to attend a public university. I believe the next president should be from a public university system. How are we to be appropriately advocated for if our advocate has no idea what kinds of struggles we endure? The students at UMass are fighters: We fight to get into classes; we fight to stay in our majors; we fight to have enough money to pay for school; we fight to graduate on time, and we fight to keep our heads above water in the 25,000+ ocean of students. Mitt Romney doesn’t understand that kind of dynamic. He understands money and that he wants certain people to keep theirs and for certain other people to have more opportunities (white people).

Our president should be able to effectively advocate and secure more funding for our university. Even with budget cuts, we still made the US News World Report Top 50 State Institutions. We need to hit the ground running with someone who understands who we are, and what we need. Why did I tell the above story about coming to UMass? Because all it took was a look at the town, a look at the campus, for me to know there was a life here. It seems in Massachusetts that anything west of Worcester is unimportant, and that sentiment needs to be phased out as aggressively as Billy Bulger was. I’d like to see our president be so present in the state legislation that those politicians need to invest in Fastlane toll passes because hey, they visit that much.

Randal Stokes, professor of Sociology at UMass said it best, “Private rationality causes public irrationality.” To have a president of a public university system be from a private institution makes no sense. We need a voice that will represent us as we are: a venerable institution of higher learning filled with students who fight for their education and aim to win.

Thomas Naughton is a Collegian columnist.