Ohio University Athletics is on the precipice of self-destruction. The chasm between the school’s athletic programs and academia is compromising what should be a symbiotic relationship.
University athletic funding, a contentious topic on many college campuses, is not sufficiently supporting the potential of OU. OU does not currently have the vision on a university wide scale to position itself as the top school in the state. If they make the necessary financial commitment, it will come to fruition.
I understand the apprehension of making a commitment with funds we currently do not possess, I really do. An advantage to the current education model is the ability to borrow money beyond one’s current means. It enables the individual to achieve the potential they truly believe they possess. Is it not fair to assume the university is capable of higher levels of success if it uses its access to money responsibly? Is it not a goal to be the most complete university in the state? Is it not the goal of this university to be the best in all aspects that we have to offer? If not, why not?
This is the oldest university in Ohio. This university is the namesake of a state home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and two professional football teams. Yet the Bobcats sit idle in the fall behind football fan bases at the University of Cincinnati and Ohio State University. There is no acceptable excuse for our complacency. Our university has as much of a right as any to represent this state. More importantly, we are more capable than most.
Athletically, we are handicapped by our peers in the Mid-American Conference. They are not willing to make the investment to captivate their markets and their communities. Our market is the entire state, not a town, or city. Our potential is cut from a different cloth. We must separate ourselves from these schools that are not like us. We must associate ourselves with schools that are looking to move forward. To give an analogy, we are sitting on oil here at OU. The MAC is trying to make rubber furniture; it’s time to associate ourselves with universities trying to make gasoline.
We have been blessed with the name of Ohio. Let’s use it to our advantage.
A change must happen within the next five years. As detailed in Tuesday’s, “Is Ohio’s Division I status at risk?” article in Speakeasy Magazine, the college landscape is changing at a rapid pace; to risk being left out of changes now could have us on the outside looking in for the conceivable future. Men’s football and basketball are fighting, and winning, battles on the frontlines for the state of Ohio. We have the coaches, athletic director, and president in place to make strides not possible in the previous decades. When this window closes we may never see the opportunity again.
This is an open letter to the decision makers of OU, the administration, professors, alumni and students. As a senior who’s about to graduate from Russ College of Engineering, I can vouch for our potential. I’ve visited schools in the Big Ten, Pac 12, Southeastern Conference and Big East during my four years here. There is nothing about OU that is second rate to these “major” athletic institutions. There is no student body, no administration, no group of student athletes or alumni that have the inherited right to possess the national spotlight. We are in a position to achieve what we are capable of.
All I ask of our administration is to believe in our beloved university as much as I do and make a real commitment in looking toward a bright future. After four years of boundless service, it’s the least that I can ask. Do the right thing.
Emmanuel Budinger is a senior studying civil engineering.
