Fifty years ago, the Hocking River overflowed almost annually. Back then, Ohio University students considered the floods to be an expected nuisance rather than an unimaginable calamity.
Following close attention to a series of particularly bad floods in the mid 1960s, the university sought a way to end the watery onslaughts. President Lyndon B. Johnson even got involved.
The solution literally changed the geography of campus.
The university enlisted the help of the Army Corps of Engineers to alter the course of the Hocking to the man-made channel in which it now runs. The project took three years, cost about $10 million and shortened the river by about 1,400 feet.
We believe Ohio University now finds itself in a similar crisis.
Sexual assault and erroneous attitudes toward women have long been problems the campus has grappled with but has never taken drastic measures to correct. Until now, when a flood of international news coverage has drowned the campus and the university’s reputation.
Students, faculty and administrators are looking for ways to change the very culture of campus. That discussion will not be comfortable, and any change will require the efforts of everyone on campus.
But reaching everyone is almost impossible. The university cannot change the culture of its campus with an online course or a series of strategically timed tweets — AlcoholEdu is proof enough of that — and events weighed down with messages will only attract those students who aren’t the ones who could use the message no matter how much free pizza you provide.
Making a tangible change will require diligence from everyone on campus who knows better. A change will come with small discussions every day that point out flawed logic and masked prejudices. It won’t be comfortable, and it won’t be quick.
In fact, we believe the Army Corps of Engineers had it easy.
Editorials reflect the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
