Shrinking violets need not apply.

The committee charged with finding a replacement for UNC Chancellor Michael Hooker received daunting marching orders last week. The group held a public forum at which people could describe the kind of person they’d like to see head the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Cancer felled Hooker during the summer, and University system president Molly Broad has said she’d like to see a new chancellor in place by next fall. The students, faculty members, staff and others who paraded before the committee last Thursday proved it won’t be an easy task. They have high expectations.

Faculty members talked about a chancellor who approaches administration from a point of abundance, going far beyond what is simply needed and eschewing the “culture of overwork.” The new leader of the university should “model human values,” one person said. Find someone who is a birdwatcher or cello player. The new chancellor should be another Bill Friday or Frank Porter Graham, it was suggested, championing causes and taking students into his home. The chancellor should be another Hooker, walking through campus with disabled students and corresponding readily with e-mail-proficient students.

The students presented a kaleidoscope of qualities they’d like to see. Some were fairly narrow. An organization of gay, lesbian, transsexual and bisexual students wants a center similar to the Black Cultural Center. The Black Student Movement wants continued recognition and rapport with the administration. A grouping of pagan students — yes, even the pagans are organized in Chapel Hill — wants more respect.

But others spoke of broader goals: a student-centered chancellor who, like Hooker, is comfortable cheering at football games and mingling with students on campus. One student said the Carolina experience involves many special moments: the Pit at noon, the arboretum in the spring, the football stadium at homecoming. Find someone who knows what’s special about Chapel Hill and can keep it alive, she said. “Without the Carolina spark,” she concluded, “our walls will crumble.”

What was most obvious during the meeting was the high public interest in choosing a new chancellor, and the value of letting the public take part. The selection committee is considering a proposal under which the names of the finalists for the job would be announced to the public, much as the Rowan-Salisbury schools did here several years ago. This allows public comment and fact-finding that could be invaluable to the committee. It would relieve them of having to maintain secrecy as they investigate their top candidates. And it would give students, staff, faculty and the general public greater opportunity to take part.

A graduate student who spoke against an open process inadvertently gave a good reason why it should be open. Only one student sits on the selection committee to represent 24,000, which he said was not nearly enough. If the process were open, though, all 24,000 would have an opportunity to be involved.