Image is everything. A person would be hard pressed to deny the universal truth that facts are shaped by the spin put on them. Fakery is a powerful tool of media relations and it should be common knowledge that every institution employs this power to deceive its unwitting audience.
Students who log onto the university Web site today will be greeted by the Web site's new, hipper design, which has been fashioned to appeal to the next generation of Ohio University students. As thrilling as the new look of the university Web site is sure to be -sigh -it is imperative that the new Web site does not suffer the same problems of the previous one.
The old version engaged in blatant false advertising by depicting OU as a haven for diversity through its premeditated selection of photos of the student body it proudly displayed. Although most current students probably are aware of this problem, they likely just shrug it off or laugh about the Web site pictures' ridiculous depiction of OU. The images on the old home page were not an oversight, not a mistake, but rather a boldface lie. An institution of higher education should be ethically above prostituting students' race or ethnicity for its own gain, but unfortunately OU has yet to subject itself to the highest standards. Ideally, along with the new design, the university will reconsider the visual representation of the student body and select images more fitting of the OU social structure.
The images on the old home page show students of all races intermingling here at OU, but sadly that perfect picture was a sham. Never has OU been synonymous with diversity. It's no secret in Athens that OU has a predominately white bred, middle class population, but most who viewed the Web site from outside this bubble -especially the new target audience of the redesigned site -could easily be misled. Students, both current and potential, should know that OU is not a haven for diversity and the images are about as believable as Danny Glover and Mel Gibson's friendship in the Lethal Weapon series. The images, like the movie friendship, come with no rational explanation nor concrete proof. Instead, they feature only a superficial appearance that has more holes in it than the bad guys have after Gibson gets through with them.
One possible suggestion that could ensure a more truthful depiction of OU would be to replace the old images with a portrait of Roderick McDavis holding a big sign that in bold letters that says: I'm not just one of the alumni
I'm the president. At least it would not be false advertising.
Now, for clarification, I am not implying that the university only hired McDavis because of his race. Also, in no way is that exaggerated suggestion meant to impugn the integrity of McDavis or assert that he was not the most qualified candidate for the position. Instead the suggestion is based on the Marvin Lewis Principle.
For those students not familiar with that theory Lewis is the Cincinnati Bengals' head coach and savior of the city's race relations. Editorial cartoonist Jim Borgman captures the idea perfectly in a cartoon that depicts a person -wearing a shirt that says Cincy-asking Lewis to fix the city's race relations, as well as a host of other problems, as he tries to breathe life into the near-dead Bengal tiger. (For a firsthand view of the cartoon, it can be found at borgman.enquirer.com/weekly/daily_html/2003/01/011903borgman.html.) Not only has Lewis revived the Bengals football team, but people in Cincinnati seem to have forgotten about the city's recent race relations problems. Such a principle could theoretically have a similar effect on Athens if McDavis could assume the role of Cincinnati's savior Lewis. The phenomenon seems to have worked in Cincinnati's bass-ackwards social environment, so it could probably work in Athens, too.
All kidding aside, the old Web site was insulting to OU's minorities and future students. The over-representation of minorities on the home page was not only wrong; it was false advertising. Until the university can produce a diverse, harmonious environment on campus it should not project the image of having one, especially now that the university has gone to the trouble to redesign the site. OU cannot yet stake its reputation on diversity, because currently the university boasts only 3 percent African American and a total 7 percent minority representation -1 percent Asian, 1 percent Hispanic and 2 percent international -in the student population. Until OU becomes a diverse university it should focus on projecting an image of honesty and integrity. It didn't do that with the old version of the site, so let's hope the new version is more truthful.
-Dan Rinderle, a junior journalism major, is a Post editorial writer. E-mail him at daniel.rinderle@ohiou.edu.
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