Student Senate kicked off the year discussing a tobacco policy that will be presented to the Board of Trustees in the presence of some of Ohio University’s biggest names.
OU President Roderick McDavis welcomed the student body back to Athens and brought attention to some of the changes that had occurred at the university, including — most noticeably — the construction.
McDavis also gave a preview of the board meeting announcing a $75 million endowment fund that the university plans to implement with the help of alumni donations over the next five years.
“We hope that the money will help future students to be able to pay their tuitions and fees at Ohio University,” McDavis said. “Everything we do is all about you. We want to be the best transformative learning community in the country”
Guaranteed tuition will also be discussed at the meeting, though this new way of calculating tuition won’t go into effect until fall of 2015.
A task force, headed by Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student Affairs, was organized shortly after the Board of Regents recommended public universities implement tobacco free policies.
“We made the recommendation this summer…to move toward a tobacco-free campus,” Lombardi said. “Almost all schools in the state of Ohio have said they are going to be tobacco-free in the coming year.”
Several student representatives served on the committee, including Mary Kate Gallagher, senate residence life commissioner.
“The university has been charged by this by the Board of Regents … and we really need to look at this,” Gallagher said. “We are taking our time and doing it right.”
Senate members cited a lack of importance and potential discrimination as consequences to the new policy, but praised its potential to reduce liter and second-hand smoke, and benefit the environment.
Athletic Director Jim Schaus and head football coach Frank Solich also addressed the senate, announcing the change in location for the Bobcat Student Park from the old practice fields to Centennial Park near Walter Hall.
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