President Roderick McDavis’ op-ed would have been a good opportunity to comment about his move to Coventry Lane.
We were pleased to receive an op-ed from President Roderick McDavis that we first published Sunday on thepostathens.com.
McDavis decided to pen his letter on the upcoming Student Senate elections, urging students to take their vote seriously and noting that choosing who will be representing them in senate is equally important as voting to select public officials.
It’s a valid point. Student Senate has been disorganized during the past two years, and perhaps students’ ideals will be better represented next year if more students decide to vote this week.
Senate elections aside, we’re disappointed McDavis didn’t decide to address the elephant in the room.
In case he hasn’t noticed, students, faculty and alumni have been vocal in their opposition to the decision to move McDavis and his wife, Deborah, into a house on Coventry Lane, more than two miles from campus. While those close to McDavis have come out in defense of the choice, the president has yet to publicly comment on the controversy surrounding his move, financed by the OU Foundation.
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Earlier this semester, we approached McDavis about the possibility of him writing occasional op-eds on campus topics. This op-ed — his second for The Post this academic year — would have been a good platform for him to comment on a topic some students have been up in arms about. Even just an acknowledgement that McDavis understands why some students, faculty and alumni are upset would have been significant.
It would have shown that our president is in touch with campus conversation and the concerns of students.
To reiterate, McDavis made a good point in his op-ed, but he could have used it to say something far more valuable.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post's executive editors: editor-in-chief Jim Ryan, managing editor Sara Jerde, opinion editor Xander Zellner and projects editor Allan Smith. Post editorials are independent of the publication's news coverage.
