The Washington Post reports on the newest trend among college presidents: trying to be so accessible to students that they come across as, essentially, their friends.

The Post piece focuses on Steven Knapp, a Yale grad who’s now president of George Washington University in D.C.

Knapp’s big break came in February, when he stopped by a nighttime snowball fight between GWU and Georgetown University, surprising student organizers.

“It was like a Civil War battle. We were all lined up,” Knapp recalled. “I think I was a target, because I got pretty pelted.”

After victory was declared, Knapp made a speech and canceled classes for the next day.

Other college presidents have deejayed at parties, formed a “broomball” team, served hot chocolate to students, and worked out at the student gym.

I don’t know a lot about how Drew Faust interacts with students, but Larry Summers was very much part of this trend, as he saw undergraduates as a political constituency whose support would help him in his fights with the faculty. Summers hosted student pizza feeds and took questions (good), danced at student parties (hmm…), and signed dollar bills for students seeking autographs (deeply offensive, but symbolically telling on both sides).

What’s going on here?

Some say that the trend results from the fact that many college presidents today are Baby Boomers who grew up in the ’60s and are uncomfortable with authority. Others suggest that electronic communication has broken down barriers between students and authority figures.

But the explanation that feels most right to me is the fact that $50,000-plus tuitions create a sense of entitlement among students and parents.

The Rev. Brian Linnane, president of Loyola University Maryland, said he thinks that spiraling tuition has spawned a “consumer mentality” among parents: “I’m paying so much, I want X, Y and Z, and I want the president to be on it.” He recalled one blistering note from a parent who arrived late to a popular campus event and was unable to find parking: “It was like somehow we failed her.”

Is this trend a good thing? I’m not sure. While it seems generally positive for presidents to have more interaction with students, I don’t want to see a college president throwing snowballs. (How long till some college president does jello shots at one of his fraternities?)

I think the question is whether leadership requires some measure of distance between the leaders and the led, and if so, how much?