This is not a fun letter to write. I am a former student and the son of an OU graduate and former member of the Board of Trustees. I had six siblings of 11 brothers and sisters attend OU. Five nieces and nephews and all three of my children are Bobcats. This past weekend my wife and I visited Athens and I was embarrassed at the amount of trash in the street, lawns and sidewalks. Was there a festival, home game or migration from another MAC school that would explain such filth? Nope. Was there a riot, sanitation strike or nuclear attack? Sorry.
The most beautiful campus in all of Ohio has become a dump and we've got no one to blame but ourselves. As a parent I feel responsible. I know I was raised to clean up my own mess and thought I passed that on to my kids. I am left to assume that a lot of our future leaders are going to be litterbugs that expect mommy, daddy or some service worker to take care of them. I know a lot of you are going to read this and say, It's not me ... just another wacky parent telling me what to do! Well, look around, Bobcats, and if you're not ashamed, you should be. Please do something about it!
Thomas J. Keys is a former Ohio University student and writes from Elyria.
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Letter to the Editor
