Social media last week was hit with a flurry of Facebook statuses and tweets donning the new hashtag, “WeStandWithWittPres” in reaction towards criticisms of President Joyner’s recent placement on the Dayton Business Journal’s Top 50 Business Women.
“#WeStandWithWittPres because she always puts students first: with integrity and transparency!” tweeted Senior Class President AJ Burt. “She also drives students to Starbucks for fun.”
Alma Mater Paige Erb tweeted “#WeStandWithWittPres whom I’ve had the honor to watch inspire and empower freshmen in the first year seminar program.” Erb currently works as a peer mentor for the First Year Seminar that Joyner advises, and is also a member of the Panhellenic Association.
Joyner’s management of Provost Duncan’s absence from campus this semester and the controversy surrounding changes to the housekeeping staff in 2012 are among the administrative decisions that have been under fire since earlier in the year..
While many students expressed their support of Joyner’s honor as a Top 50 Business Woman, others continued to remain critical of the recipient’s decisions.
“I actually still have a big problem with laying off housekeeping workers for the sake of my ‘student experience,'” said Common Ground President Ben Brown in a Facebook status last week. “W-Day and Wittfest are great but if it has to come at the cost of someone else’s job then I will be extremely opposed to those events.”
Even alumni and graduates joined in on the discussion online. Class of 2014 graduate Matthew Pfouts commented on Facebook that, “[Joyner] is not in an easy position and to her credit, she handles criticism with such dignity and grace because she cares about the place. She cares about all of you, and that is a huge change from previous leadership.”
Joyner’s leadership has been a subject of both praise and condemnation, but the #WeStandWithWittPres hashtag is one movement of support that ralllied students campus wide and from previous generations.
