Last week President McDavis presented his Presidential Address to the university community, in which he appointed Provost Kathy Krendl executive vice president and provost. This reorganization is a change, but is it a change for change's sake.
Never once in his address did McDavis take responsibility for the OU crisis. He blamed the faltering Ohio economy and he blamed enrollment targets not being met. As the head of the university, he is ultimately responsible for ensuring the university solvency. President McDavis shared with us what OU meant to him. Aristotle would be proud that McDavis played the pathos card. However, in order to be effective, Dr. McDavis must regroup and truly reach out and accept the responsibility that he accepted as president of OU.
Dr. McDavis in his address quoted Lincoln; in actuality, he probably should have used a quote from President Harry Truman, The buck stops here. The president, CEO of OU, is ultimately the decision maker. We must all take responsibility for our decisions. President McDavis should be no different. Truman in his farewell address to the American people stated, The President ' whoever he is ' has to decide. He can't pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That's his job.
Are we passing the buck to Dr. Krendl?' Matt Bell is a student senator at-large and vice presidential candidate for Student Senate.
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Letter to the Editor
