There was a beautiful irony about the stories that led yesterday’s paper.
On one hand, our sports editor broke the news that Frank Solich, Ohio University’s head football coach, is on the verge of a six-figure raise that will make him the highest-paid university employee.
That raise comes as no surprise. The football program earned its first bowl win in school history this year in large part due to Solich’s leadership and recruiting.
For many alumni, a winning football program is a dream come true. As we celebrated with Post alumni this last weekend many reminisced about the snarky editorials they published lamenting the subpar performances of OU football in decades past. But Solich’s raise is just as much about the athletics food chain as it is about on-the-field performance.
Last month the OU Athletic Department hired Jim Christian to replace former head basketball coach John Groce. Wooing Christian from Texas Christian University cost OU roughly $425,000 a year — that’s about $175,000 more than Groce made before incentives such as radio/television deals, merchandise and post-season bonuses.
Meanwhile, OU students protested a pending tuition increase which would bump up tuition by 3.5 percent next year. Today, OU’s Board of Trustees will sign off on the increase, most likely without discussion, and will begin the process of implementing the university’s third tuition increase in three years.
Those tuition hikes (partnered with room and board increases) have no doubt left the dream of college out of reach for many of the teens living in Ohio’s numerous urban and rural areas. There are few other options besides tuition increases for a university facing a $5 million budget deficit.
Now there’s no rational way to argue that by not giving those athletics raises, OU could have avoided raising tuition. However, it would be great if OU could take the same no-alternatives approach to college affordability as it does to athletic success.
Coming off of the most commercially successful season in the history of the university, decision makers decided that they weren’t going to take the chance that Solich jumps ship or that Groce is not replaced by an equally capable coach. The new costs for the athletic department have been explained away by “new departmental revenue.”
For those of us old enough to remember the days when OU’s athletic department fudged the books, hid costs and routinely overspent at the expense of the rest of the university’s financial health, it’s impossible to buy the explanation that this $225,000 extra in coaching costs has materialized from bowl games (which cost the university money) and the NCAA tournament run.
But no matter how they came up with the funds, OU made it work. Now what will it take to get the university to have that same mindset for keeping down the cost of attendance?
Wesley Lowery is a senior studying journalism and editor-in-chief of The Post. Email him at wl372808@ohiou.edu.
