This is a response to Tyler Barton’s letter found in Tuesday’s edition of The Post. As a member of Student Senate and the acting athletics senator, I feel required to set the record straight regarding Mr. Barton’s allegations regarding the multipurpose facility and his negative opinions regarding student government and representation here at Ohio University.
As acting vice president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Council, I have been in contact with OU Athletic Director Jim Schaus and other administrators involving the funding and design of the multipurpose facility. The multipurpose facility will be utilized by OU’s athletic teams and its students.
To date, Athletics has raised a large majority of the funds needed for the facility’s construction. As the facility will be used by not only student-athletes, but all students, it is only right that OU students contribute to the facility’s construction. The multipurpose facility will be used by students for recreation classes and for intramural teams.
Mr. Barton’s allegations that Schaus lied to students about funding for the facility is completely false. When Athletics received the initial grant from the Walter family in 2011, OU President Roderick McDavis made it clear that no student money would go toward the construction of the multipurpose facility unless students demanded it. Director Schaus, in his presentation to Student Senate, only echoed McDavis’s promise.
More than a year after fundraising for the facility began, students, working with their student representatives on the Budget Planning Committee, brought a proposal to the BPC requesting student fees be allocated to the construction of the multipurpose facility and that the facility include an indoor track. That is no secret and has been well documented by The Post.
Having an indoor multipurpose facility is the mark of a modern university and will be beneficial not only to the continued success of Bobcat athletics, but also to students; whether it be intramural sports, classes or health and wellness, this facility is built in the best interest of students and the university.
As a student graduating in Spring 2013, this facility will be completed after my departure from this great university. My interests are for the continued success of Bobcat athletics and the betterment of student life here at OU.
In regard to Mr. Barton’s opinions concerning student government, I am disappointed that he believes such lambasting by means of the student newspaper will do anything more than hurt any meaningful dialogue he wishes to have with student government and OU administrators. Only purposeful discussion and cooperation with student leaders and university administrators can accomplish anything.
Student Senate comprises students who are students’ best tools for enacting change at this university. Those are a group of respected student leaders who are an under-utilized means of advocacy on this campus. Many of those leaders have excellent relationships with OU administrators and can serve as a medium for a true connection between students and the men and women who run this university.
Mr. Barton’s bashing of OU administration accomplishes little more than to excite emotions and lead frustrated students to a sense of defeatism instead of encouraging them to sit down with their peers in hope of working on the future of this university. As we close out this school year, I encourage OU students to work toward changing this university for the better with dialogue and an attitude of hope and cooperation.
Tyler Blair is a junior studying English, the athletic affairs senator for Student Senate and a member of the OU men’s cross-country team.
