Editor's note: This is the third in a three-part series looking at the presidents of Ohio University. The information in the story came from the Mahn Center for Archives in Alden Library.
Vernon Roger Alden brought an expansionist attitude to Ohio University when he became president in 1962.
During the 1960s, more than 35 buildings were built, and the number of faculty and students doubled. With the expansion, the budget quadrupled.
Alden spent time on fundraising efforts, expanding international programs and rerouting the Hocking River. He also created the Honors College and established tuition waivers for employees.
Although OU was growing rapidly, times were not always pleasant. Students pleaded to have relaxed women's hours and beer on campus.
Alden kept a plaque with pieces of brick, rock and pipe mounted on it - items thrown through his windows, said Charles Ping, 18th president.
Despite that, Alden said the '60s had an aura of optimism and the feeling that almost anything could be accomplished.
Because of the Vietnam War, the optimism had begun to fade when Claude R. Sowle became president in 1969. The cigar-smoking president was active in promoting higher education and conducted business openly.
Under Sowle's leadership, the university professor program was established and OU became a doctoral-degree granting institution. He hosted a weekly radio call-in show on WOUB, during which he addressed complaints such as a lack of hot water, student noise violations and budget concerns, said Bill Kimok, university archivist.
However, the campus atmosphere was becoming increasingly hostile. After the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970, Sowle was determined to prove OU's strength by staying open while other schools shut down temporarily.
Rallies and riots continued on campus until May 14 when Sowle closed the university until Fall Quarter 1970.
In an interview after his resignation in 1974, he said he wished he had been at OU earlier when priorities were given to money and the desire to grow.
Sowle inherited these problems
Kimok said. He had a baptism by fire.
Economics professor Harry B. Crewson became president while a search for his successor took place.
He had the full confidence of everyone said Alan Geiger, an administrator then and now secretary to the OU Board of Trustees.
Crewson had a long history with OU and Athens, serving as city council president and founding the OU Employees' Credit Union. Under Crewson, the gap between town and gown narrowed.
Before his one-year term was over, he started a master's program in Malaysia and started the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
In 1975, Charles Ping came to OU. He quickly drafted a 10-year plan, including the creation of the University Planning Advisory Council.
Rebuilding the university after the tumultuous '70s included raising $135 million, creating the College of Health and Human Services and founding the Edison Biotechnology Institute.
He received postcards from students who regarded him as part of a larger family, which was exactly what Ping tried to achieve.
Joel Ergood, '84, said the community stemmed from a love for OU, which originated with Ping himself. He truly believed in the university.
The current president, Robert Glidden, brought OU into the technology age in 1994. He encouraged active learning and provided computers in all residence halls - the first public school in Ohio to do so. Under Glidden, OU has undergone many construction and renovation projects. The bicentennial celebration and a $200 million fundraising campaign also began and will end during his presidency.
As we face the next 100 years one just hopes and presumes that indeed the university will continue to change with the times
will continue to find ways to provide access to students ... and that we will continue to change in ways that will serve the society as a whole
he said.
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Archives
Katie Primm
