If Athens receives the rain predicted for Wednesday, it might be difficult for Ohio University students to stay dry while walking to class.
The Baker Advisory Board unveiled its umbrella-sharing program, “yOUr Umbrella,” on March 17. Two days later, all 80 umbrellas had been taken and have yet to be returned to Baker University Center. However, OU officials aren’t concerned.
“We’ll see if they come back. If they don’t, they don’t,” said Dusty Kilgour, executive director of Event Services. “Here’s the way I look at it: If this project was a failure, which I don’t think it is, the worst case scenario is that I provided 80 umbrellas for students.”
The umbrellas, which cost roughly $10 each, were paid for using funds that otherwise would have been used to pay salaries of open staff positions in Event Services, Kilgour said. Including the stainless steel stands, the entire project cost about $2,000, said Evan Wilcof, graduate assistant for Baker.
Kilgour said the advisory board will still continue with the program despite the missing umbrellas.
“We met with the advisory board, we discussed it and we think we are going to go ahead and purchase some more and put them out,” he said.
Kilgour said the advisory board has not decided how many more umbrellas it will purchase.
One student thinks the university needs to put more emphasis on the fact the umbrellas need to be returned.
“They’re not just there for you to take, and I think that was the mistake when they put them out,” said Leanne Ketchum, a junior studying middle childhood education.
The university has recently placed a sign next to an umbrella collection bin on the fourth floor of Baker Center reminding students to return the umbrellas when they are finished using them.
Anna Morton, President of Student Senate and a member of the advisory board, said she hopes students return the missing umbrellas and that she has not given up on the program.
“I think it’s way too soon to just give up and be done with it because then they’ll probably never get them back,” Morton said.
Kilgour said he will not track down students to get the umbrellas back.
“We hope that the students will start sharing them with each other and bring them back at some point, but it’s on them at that point,” he said. “I can’t make them do that; I refuse to do that.”
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