As a Student Government Association Senator from Southwest, there are few administrators I would willingly praise. This may come as a surprise, as some believe that it is actually my responsibility to be permanently mad at every person who works for the school. On top of that job, I am also a Resident Assistant in John Quincy Adams, and I work for the Financial Aid Office. This means I have to listen to complaints – 95 percent of which are justified – about the administration on a daily basis. But there is one administrator in particular who I have never, ever, heard a complaint about from students or other administrators.

For those of you who don’t know him, Byron Bullock is the associate vice chancellor for student affairs and the head of the Center for Student Development. Within the next few weeks, the University of Massachusetts will be living with a very sad reality: Mr. Bullock will be leaving the University for a post at the American University of Nigeria. I know most of you are thinking: ‘Why should I care, he is just another faceless administrator who comes and goes, right?’ Wrong.

Byron is one of the greatest allies and mentors a student could possibly ask for. As the founder and director of the CSD for the last five years, he has helped student leadership in ways most people will never know about. Under his leadership, the CSD – with an overworked and underpaid staff – has provided Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) with an unprecedented level of aid and support. The CSD – for those unfamiliar with it – is the administrative body that helps the SGA run the RSOs.

Let me be clear, this doesn’t mean that the CSD is flawless. Far from it.

I have been no great fan and have spent a significant amount of time ranting about certain CSD policies. Regardless of policy disagreements, however, Mr. Bullock has fostered a special relationship between the SGA and the CSD that has allowed us to work together, despite differences in perspective and opinion. Last year, and with Byron’s help, the SGA was able to implement online elections after years of bickering. Also last year, despite much controversy, he was able to create the new Center for Multicultural Academic Student Success (CMASS) that now serves as  the sole advisory center for most multicultural students.

Byron’s importance in this matter cannot be overstated. Time and time again he has shown himself to be a friend, advisor and important ally when students needed him the most. He has readily backed students, RSOs and the SGA, even if it means defending them against his own colleagues.

Unlike many administrators at this school who shut themselves up in their offices and are simply nameplates on a door, the majority of people who know Byron know him because they have met him before ever hearing his name. I have never had – nor have I ever heard of anyone – who had a problem meeting with Byron or didn’t find him to be the greatest student advocate on campus. He even makes it a habit to eat at Berkshire Dining Commons at least twice a week in order to keep in touch with the student body. He believes strongly in what he is doing, even though it means he must be apart from his wife, who is living in North Carolina.

Mr. Bullock is leaving us for Nigeria, where he will have the amazing opportunity to build a student affairs division from the ground up. I have no doubt in my mind that within the next decade we will be hearing about an amazing student affairs division coming out of Nigeria that puts our own to shame.

The administration has established a committee to find Byron’s replacement and their task couldn’t be more important. The shoes his successor will have to fill are enormous, and this person should be a real student advocate. Recently, Brandon Tower, the president of the SGA, wrote an op-ed comparing Chancellor Holub to Professor Dumbledore, but in my opinion Mr. Bullock has been the “headmaster” I have always admired.

With his departure, I sincerely hope the CSD and student affairs don’t turn into a seventh book- era Hogwarts. I believe I can speak for the entire SGA and, in fact, the whole student body in wishing Mr. Bullock the best of luck in Nigeria. He will be missed.

Jarred Rose is a Collegian contributor. He can be reached at [email protected].