When The Post's editorial board sat down to discuss just what parts of Ohio University's history to commemorate in this space today, there was a good amount of cynicism, as any group of journalists is likely to show. Academics have gone straight down the drain since we've been here
the editors muttered. The university imposes dizzying tuition hikes every year they grumbled. But on this Founders Day, when administrators, professors and, most importantly, students are commemorating the 200th birthday of the institution that has brought them together, it's worth looking at things with a slightly broader perspective. OU's growth and development represents the fulfillment of one of the greatest dreams of any political thinker; it has brought knowledge and fulfillment to millions of students; it has contributed countless great women and men to the worlds of business, public life and the arts. It has even turned out its share of journalists.
So many years later, it's easy to lose sight of how significant the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 was. The document provided the political framework for the expansion of the fledgling United States, affirmed that the American political experiment was viable in western states and made affordable public education a high priority in the new democracy. These things were no less than revolutionary. How many OU students have walked past the words Religion morality and knowledge
being necessary for good government and the happiness of mankind
schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged
and stopped to consider them? That clause is responsible for bringing us all to Southeast Ohio and making Athens the place it is.
Students come to OU for its scenic, brick-lined walkable campus; because their parents are former Bobcats who had a great time in their day; and because its students are friendly, down-to-earth people (unlike that other scenic, brick-lined walkable university - the one in Oxford). Experiences at OU inform some of the most important decisions in students' young lives, from picking a mate to finding a career path to choosing between cases and a keg. So it has been since the early 19th century, and so it will continue into the 21st. Over its long life, the university has endured bureaucrats who wanted to eliminate it, wars that drained its admission rolls, riots, floods and dozens of Halloweens. It has aged very well. Here's hoping it does even better during the next 200 years.
... and forward
Tonight, when the gigantic Ohio University birthday cake is gone and the dance team has packed away its stretch pants, administrators should use the post-party quiet time to mull over the state of the institution. On this day reserved for looking back on the institution's two centuries, they should consider that, in many aspects, OU has seen better days. Students have a difficult time getting into classes they want and often must fill their schedules with unneeded courses to kill time. The university trustees bank every year on increasing tuition by the maximum legal amount - and circumvent the tuition caps with additional mysterious technology fees - but administrators complain they don't have enough money. In the 1960s and '70s OU hosted the top musical acts of the day, including Led Zeppelin, Bruce Springsteen and many more. Presidents and political luminaries, including John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King, spoke to OU students. These days, we see Michelle Branch and Bay Buchanan, who are fine for what they are, but it's hard to escape the feeling that OU can do better.
As the examples of success from its past show, including such distinguished alumni as Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, NBC journalist Matt Lauer and actor Richard Dean Anderson (TV's MacGyver), OU has done better. But being one of Ohio's most expensive public universities, purchasing new airplanes in the midst of budget crunch and cutting the number of adjunct faculty positions are not steps forward. As the university begins its third century, administrators must remember that students, whose energy and tuition have sustained it since the early days, are their primary customers. As they make each fiscal, cultural and policy decision, they cannot forget that.
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