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Date: 8/18/2020
WESTFIELD – Diversity, education, and cooperation are the focus under Westfield State University’s new interim President Roy Saigo.
After his second retirement following a two-year stint at Southern Oregon University, during which he reinvigorated the university, Saigo said he is ready to help turn around another university over the course of the next year.
He indicated that one of his first actions on campus was to address diversity concerns, having lived through racism in his own life as a first-generation Japanese American, and his work on banning racist mascots in the NCAA.
“The Anti-Oppression Council asked me to respond to demands, and a student group had similar concerns, so I just got in front of it. I said, ‘everything you’ve talked about, I’ve experienced or if I haven’t, I have a sensitivity and understanding of why you are upset,’” Saigo said.
One of the biggest ways he is trying to change the attitude and address these issues is with action, and not just words.
“Every word and everything that we have put out, we put action behind. You won’t hear me say we’re working on it a year from now. Yes I’m angry about this, yes it’s taking too long, yes we give a lot of BS, but the bottom line as a leader is you gotta show up and you gotta make a difference,” he said.
Saigo added that there will be tangible changes that the university can track. “What we’re trying to do is put in systemic changes that can be tested every quarter, and every year we should be to measure the progress,” he said.
Along with tackling systemic racism, he added two of his other big goals were educating the students and helping the staff as much as possible, while leaving the issues in the past.
“Here we are focusing on educating our students, we’re not going back and talking about all the issues we dealt with in the past. We are focused on educating the children of Western Massachusetts. The cabinet and our leadership here are focusing on assisting the faculty to teach our students,” he said.
He said that he is in a unique position to make drastic changes at the university because of his short one-year tenure.
“The interim position is no longer about keeping a place in place. It’s a place where people come in and make a change, and help the institution rewrite itself, and focus on what they have to do,” Saigo said. “It’s an opportunity to change the place around in a short time. When a permanent person comes, they can’t move so decisively and with action because they feel they got a lot of time.”
As part of his management style, Saigo said he has always lived in the dorms at each school at which he has worked.
“Everywhere I have lived, Auburn, Minnesota, here, I’ve always lived in the dorms. That allows me to walk around and get to know people,” he said.
Saigo compared the university’s current position and his philosophy for improving it to the third period of a hockey game.
“It’s the mental attitude and the toughness that even when you’re down two or three goals, that in the third period, the puck can go your way. You need to have a little luck, but if you keep hitting it towards the net, it’s eventually going to go through, and that’s what we’re about here,” he said.
He said that righting the ship at Westfield is an important step in upholding democracy in Western Massachusetts.
“Bottom line is we are going to be educating the middle class of Massachusetts. Democracy requires an educated community. An educated community requires regional, affordable, quality education for the middle class. It is the one biggest factors in social mobility up, and without us, it’s not gonna happen. And without us democracy will be challenged,” Saigo said.
To him, one of the most important aspects of turning a school around is teamwork and he said that so far, everyone has been willing.
“You gotta start by bringing all aspects of the institution together to move the institution forward. Every person I’ve met has been nice, passionate, supportive, and I can deal with that,” he said.
Saigo guaranteed that there would be changes for the better at the Westfield State University within the next three months.
“You get a bunch of people together, they’ve got energy, they’ve got passion, they’ve got anger, they’ve got things to get done. I’m asking I can’t do it, you gotta help me and we’re gonna work together to get it done. By golly, you come back in three months you will see a different place than you see today,” he said.