A petition demanding further consideration from Ohio University regarding President Roderick McDavis’ living arrangements has gathered 300 signatures, according to the OU Student Union.
A petition demanding further consideration from Ohio University regarding President Roderick McDavis’ living arrangements has gathered 300 signatures, according to the OU Student Union.
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The student organization says its petition demands the OU Foundation, which secured a lease-to-purchase agreement on a new, $1.2 million residence for the president, seek additional input from students, faculty and staff regarding the matter. Though the foundation worked to finalize the lease, the university itself will make monthly rent payments of about $4,000.
OU's Board of Trustees had previously agreed to cover McDavis' housing expenses.
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The petition was circulated at Tuesday’s “Bat Rally,” also organized by the student union. It calls on the foundation to allow students to vote on how money is spent for McDavis’ relocation, which the university announced last month after McDavis’ wife, Deborah, was injured after trying to avoid a bat at 29 Park Place, the university’s designated residence for its president.
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The student union demands “that the Foundation complies with the voting results," according to a news release.
The petition does not explicitly demand that the university return President Roderick McDavis and his wife Deborah to 29 Park Place, according to the news release.
The university has the opportunity to purchase the property, but that’s a purchase the university’s Foundation Board of Trustees must approve.
In university-distributed materials last month, the arrangement was described as a lease agreement. But Board of Trustees Chairman David Brightbill was quoted in a university news release as referring to the agreement as lease-to-buy, giving OU the option to purchase between now and the end of the contract in 2017.
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“The decision by the foundation to pursue a lease-to-buy agreement is not about the current president but about the recruitment of future presidents,” Brightbill said in the release.
@LucasDaprile
ld311710@ohio.edu
