A letter from an alumna who believes PSAC is not just a part of the OU College Green Historic District, but also a part of uptown Athens that is worth saving.
Dear President McDavis and the OU Board of Trustees,
I’m writing to you as a proud alumna of Ohio University (Class of 2015!) to say that I am very concerned with the university’s (dis)engagement with the Athens community over the President Street Academic Center (PSAC).
Athens became my home during my time at OU, and I dearly miss it. That’s why I am so disappointed today in the (in)action of this administration.
Athens is not just what can be seen and experienced by some transient university student or administrator. There is much more to it than that. Its history is 200 years deep, just like the university’s, and many passionate, brilliant people live in the city who have contributed to OU’s success. Athens’ history is OU’s history and vice versa.
It seems to me that you have not put in the effort to truly appreciate the symbiotic relationship between Athens and OU.
This is evident in your (mis)treatment of the issue of PSAC. PSAC is not just a part of the OU College Green Historic District; it is part of uptown Athens as well and stands as the gateway to the city. In addition to its architectural and historical value, as elaborated by many other writers, it symbolizes how interrelated the university and city are.
Because of that debate, though, it now also symbolizes an administration that has ignored multiple pleas for reconsideration coming from community members ranging from the mayor to the Athens Historic Preservation Commission to students and alumni like me. It is town versus gown in yet another form. Although, legally, you may have the right to tear down PSAC, you do have an ethical obligation, as custodians of Athens history, to listen to impassioned pleas for historic preservation so that the history of Athens and OU can be experienced by future students, university employees and Athens citizens.
Athens is more than OU. It is more than its history, its culture, its citizens. It is the aggregate, and if any one part weakens, the depth and beauty of Athens’ identity that I could only glimpse during my four years there lessens. Do not be the impetus for that. These are intangibles not captured in cost-benefit analyses based on mere monetary value.
Please, do not demolish PSAC this May without a serious thought to what ignoring us signifies. Save it, preserve it, embrace the shared history. PSAC is worth saving.
Elizabeth Cychosz is a 2015 alumna of Ohio University.
