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PETITION
Please
sign our petition to save dropped OU sports. Click
here. If
your current circumstances or position with Ohio University do not require
anonymity, we
request that you sign with your name rather than as "Anonymous"
as some have. Thank you and thanks to the Women's Lacrosse blog
for setting up this petition.
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CONTACT FOR THIS SITE: SaveOUSports ATgmailDOTcom
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OU'S LEADERSHIP
JUST IN: Students will vote on confidence in McDavis
Student Senate approved issue for spring ballot
Emily Grannis / For The Post / eg349206@ohiou.edu
This spring, Ohio University students will have the opportunity to indicate
their approval of President Roderick McDavis and his administration.
Citing fears of biased language, Student Senate reworded a ballot initiative
asking for student opinion on the effectiveness and transparency of the McDavis
administration.
Undergraduate Senate was following Graduate Senate’s lead, as the graduate
body passed a comparable resolution Monday. The senates were concerned with
language in a petition on similar issues for which SEAL, Students for Effective
and Accountable Leadership, was gathering signatures.
Dominic Barbato, Graduate Student Senate president, called the questions his
body looked at “biased.” Gretchen Cataline, undergraduate senator for the
Scripps College of Communication and primary sponsor of the resolution, said she
thought SEAL’s language was irresponsible.
“The language in the resolution we’re putting forward today is the most
responsible thing we can do,” Cataline said, emphasizing that the resolution
did not force Senate to take a position on the administration but offered
students the opportunity to do so. “We’re simply saying we and other members
of the student body deserve to vote [on this].”
SEAL president Maggie O’Toole attended the Senate meeting and said she
would remove SEAL’s petition from circulation.
“We’re more than satisfied with the new language,” O’Toole told
Senate members.
Student Senate raised the issue of evaluating the president last April after
the Board of Trustees met with the heads of each university constituent group to
get feedback about the McDavis administration.
“It is difficult, perhaps impossible, for officers to represent adequately
their respective constituent groups without first surveying their opinions,”
stated the resolution, which was passed with three abstentions.
Academic Affairs Commissioner Patrick Heery sent the resolution with an
explanation to Board of Trustee members April 28.
“For the evaluation to be meaningful and not simply polarizing, it must be
a ‘formative evaluation’ whose chief purpose is to identify for the
President areas both where he is in need of improvement and where he excels,”
he wrote.
Heery said tonight he would still like to see such an evaluation developed
and is worried low turnout will affect how the administration responds to a
student vote. His concerns stem from a vote organized by the American
Association of University Professors last spring in which 75 percent of Athens
and regional campus faculty surveyed said they lacked confidence the McDavis
administration, according to a June 22 Post
article. Heery said the results were not taken seriously in part because so few
faculty — 45 percent — responded.
Senate hopes 20 percent of students vote this spring, Heery said. In 2005, 9
percent of undergraduates voted in the Senate election, according to a May 19 Post
article.
“My guess is (the administration) would respond similarly as they did to
the AAUP . . . (But) due to the climate on campus, I think this issue will draw
many voters,” he said. “My hope is that this may renew the dialog on a more
comprehensive evaluation.”
Student Senate plans to organize more opportunities for students and
administrators to talk about the ballot initiative, now named Issue 1, before
the election this May.
Through other resolutions, Senate commended the university for its handling
of the RIAA music piracy problems, recommended changes to Hudson Health
Center’s Sexual Health Seminar and the Baker University Center catering
policy, and expressed its support for Athens Beautification Day. In addition,
senators passed a resolution expressing condolences to Bluffton University after
the loss of four students in a bus accident Friday.
Ballot questions: before and after
SEAL’s original petition:
Do you feel that the McDavis administration does not sufficiently seek out
and respect student opinion with regard to University policies and the decision
making process?
Do you feel that the McDavis administration has failed to make University
budgeting and financial information available to the greater University
community?
Overall, do you lack confidence in President McDavis' ability to lead Ohio
University?
Student Senate’s revisions:
Do you feel that the McDavis administration seeks out and respects student
opinion with regard to university policies and the decision-making process?
Do you feel that the McDavis administration makes university budgeting and
financial information available to the greater university community?
Do you have confidence in President McDavis’ ability to lead Ohio
University?
Your Turn: Athletic department debacle shows no class, integrity
Letter to the Editor
President McDavis,
It has taken me two days to absorb your letter; a polite letter in so many
words telling us to get lost! What truly irritates me is that you did not answer
our question, which you said you would after you had time to deliberate.
We asked you, “Does the university with a core value and guiding principle
of integrity have an obligation to honor its words and commitments, written and
verbal, to its student athletes? As John Schaefer pointed out in our meeting, it
is a simple “yes” or “no” answer. I would have thought a man of your
standing would have responded; why have you not? Does the university, does the
administration, does the athletic department have integrity? Please respond to
this question as you promised you would.
If you need an example of integrity you should have showed up at the MAC
Conference meet last weekend. Sportsmanship and integrity were the guiding
principals of the Ohio men’s swimming and diving team. Not only did they show
integrity, but so did the members of the girls’ swimming and diving team who
supported the men the entire weekend. More class and dignity were demonstrated
by the parents and the members of Eastern Michigan, Ball State, Miami and
Buffalo than anyone from the Ohio administration or athletic department.
I was disappointed for the members of the men’s team when I was told there
were no words of encouragement from the administration or the athletic
department prior to or during the meet. Not only does it appear that you are
unable to demonstrate any level of integrity, you also seem to be unable to
demonstrate any level of class or compassion to your own student-athletes.
Compassion was the Eastern Michigan parents and swimmers cheering OU, OU, OU,
which was immediately followed by the parents and swimmers of all teams
participating. While our men tried to join in, they couldn’t — their faces
were buried in their hands with tears coming down. The girls were crying knowing
they lost their brothers and workout partners, and the parents were crying
thinking this might be the last time they see their sons swim. That was truly
compassion.
Your letter talks about “careful” considerations, “passionate”
responses and the “charge” the Board of Trustees has given to you. All of
which are very hollow words in that there was no careful consideration as was
evidenced by the weak, vague and incredibly slanted PowerPoint presentation
produced by Mr. Hocutt. Passionate! The administration and the athletic
department has shown no passion whatsoever since the announcement in late
January. Careful consideration? Obviously not too careful since you have not
responded to our question on integrity. The Trustees! At a meeting, one of the
Trustees asked Hocutt if members of the cut teams could join other teams. With
all due regard to the Trustee, she has no understanding of college athletics yet
sits on one of your committees that reviews athletic department issues. Give me
a break; is this part of the “careful” consideration?
President McDavis, this entire announcement and the process the athletic
department followed has been a complete debacle, and it will come out for
everyone to see and understand. It will be a complete embarrassment for the
university, the administration and the athletic department once all is said and
done. The excuses of fiscal responsibility and Title IX compliance are getting
old. Fiscal responsibility is not solved by cutting a program that might cost
$25,000-$30,000. Title IX is not an issue, as I have come to understand from
sources more knowledgeable than I. These are buzz words given to the trustees
and to uninformed audiences to make them think they understand.
Integrity — do you have it or not? It is a simple “yes” or “no.”W.
Bradley Stetson, SaveOhioSwimming
My Turn: Ohio University, please pick up the pieces
soon
Christopher Gohlke / cg935203@ohiou.edu
Dear Ohio University,
In two weeks, I’ll be leaving your campus forever. When I first arrived
here in fall of 2003, I never thought graduation would come this soon. You’ve
played an integral part in my life for the past four years, and when I’m gone
for good next month, I’ll be leaving a piece of myself behind.
I’ve been here through some good times, and I’ve stood behind you in all
the bad ones. As I near the transition from student to alumnus, though, it’s
time to be up front with you: Lately, you’ve gotten a lot wrong.
This is no surprise to you, I’m sure. Your slipping credibility made its
way to the world’s breakfast table when the New York Times published a
detailed account of all your failures last fall.
But it hasn’t been all bad; on the contrary, I’ve undoubtedly spent the
best years of my life here. For now though, it’s time to face up to some major
problems before reveling in any of your successes.
When I told people I was an Ohio University student in the past, the response
usually was: “Oh, the party school!” Now, that has changed. Now, the
response is: “Oh, the plagiarism/computer breach/drunk football coach/illegal
downloading/selling degrees in India school!” And those only scratch the
surface of your reputation’s downward spiral.
Scandals aside, there are a number of internal issues that need solved before
the outside world will again look at you with deference. Addressing those
problems will improve the quality of life for your students, and a troop of
proud Bobcats could quash any criticism thrown your way.
It’s time to begin rebuilding your crumbled esteem.
I don’t claim to have the solutions to all these problems. I won’t
pretend to be an expert on higher education. I do know, however, as one of your
faithful students, the quality of this institution is on a frightfully downward
slope.
I know what you’re like in the good times, and it hardly resembles what I
see now.
• The current administration has charged itself with boosting enrollment at
all costs. That means cramped residence halls, bigger class sizes and a city
bursting at the seams with more people than it can handle. It’s expensive to
run a university, clearly. But in an attempt to maintain the status quo, OU did
just the opposite, and the result has been far worse than merely overcrowded
dorms.
The university has put money ahead of its students, and now those students
are paying the price.
• Similarly, many of those new students aren’t sticking around. The
university lauds its jam-packed freshman classes, but only an abysmal number
return for their sophomore years.
• OU has poured truckloads of money into some of its sports — such as
hiring the pricey (and now infamous) football coach Frank Solich — while
neglecting other sports. The football team might be better than in recent
history, which obviously is a good thing. But that success is fleeting when
weighed with the cutting of the women’s lacrosse, men’s swimming and diving
and men’s indoor/outdoor track teams.
• The university has made strides in promoting diversity in recent years.
But simply focusing on racial minorities is not enough. Key underrepresented
groups, especially the LGBT community, have been brushed aside. The LGBT
Programs Center, for instance, was excluded from the Office for Equity and
Diversity, and the center’s budget is far less than any other diversity office
on campus.
• Poor planning and decision-making have left the university in a funding
crisis. With state aid severely lacking, the university has been pushed to make
do-or-die decisions — but time after time it’s gone wrong. In one year, OU
went from breaking even to having a budget deficit approaching $11 million. The
likely solution will be more significant tuition increases.
Ohio University, I unfortunately have been a student here during one of the
lowest points in your lengthy history. For the sake of those who come after me,
I have faith you can pick up the pieces after several years of falling apart.
I hope your dark hour will soon come to an end.
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DROPPED
TEAMS
2006
Women's Lacrosse Team
Swimming
and Diving
and
Track
and Field
|
