To the Editor,
Ohio University has recently announced that it is reviewing the suitability of the traditional residence of the President on the Athens campus. This appears to be driven by the appearance of some bats and an associated unfortunate injury to Deborah McDavis, the President's wife. It also appears that the Ohio University Foundation is on course to purchase a property from former Ohio University Alumni Board member John Wharton for $1.2 million to serve as a new residence. This house is far removed from campus.
We feel strongly that this is very poor use of scarce resources. At a time when student debt is spinning out of control, and the funding of higher education is in crisis (a point emphasized recently by the Governor), it makes no sense to undertake such lavish expenditure. The Foundation exists to support scholarship and academic enrichment programs. We would suggest that this is the highest calling for $1.2 million.
And in sharp contrast to the President's House (which was heavily renovated in 1995 and maintained since), student dorm rooms, classrooms, and faculty and staff offices suffer from problems such as very poor climate control, infestations of various insects and mold, and leaking roofs. In the School of Music, climate control is so poor that musical instruments (especially pianos) are continuously degraded. Science buildings are inadequately ventilated and suffer from serious safety issues. These problems have persisted for more than a decade for lack of funding. Yet a drastic and expensive allocation of precious University resources occurs without discussion when bats appear in a distinguished old house, because it affects the University president?
The presence of the President on campus is also important for institutional morale; changing that long-standing arrangement at the very least merits careful discussion in the broad University community (including, in a meaningful way, students and faculty). No such discussion has occurred in Athens.
We urge the Ohio University administration to reconsider this expenditure. Foundation funds, built over the years from the myriad donations of alumni and others should be directed toward pressing needs, not a new mansion for an already highly-compensated University administrator.
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This letter was written by David Drabold, Distinguished Professor of Physics and Joseph McLaughlin, Associate Professor of English.
This letter was signed by:
Gene Ammarell, Assoc. Professor of Anthropology Austin Babrow, Professor of Communication Studies
Mark Barsamian, Assoc. Lecturer of Mathematics
Alyssa Bernstein, Assoc. Professor of Philosophy
Neil Bernstein, Professor of Classics and World Religions
Joseph Bernt, Professor Emeritus of Journalism
Laura Black, Assoc. Professor of Communication Studies
Robert Briscoe, Assoc. Professor of Philosophy
Geoffrey Buckley, Professor of Geography
Thomas Carpenter, Dist. Professor of Classics and World Religions
Devika Chawla, Assoc. Professor of Communication Studies
Gang Chen, Assoc. Professor of Physics
Diane Ciekawy, Assoc. Professor of Anthropology
Joan Connor, Professor of English
Thomas Costello, Visiting Lecturer in Communication Studies
Mariana Dantas, Assoc. Professor of History
Bernhard Debatin, Professor of Journalism
Robert DeMott, Dist. Professor Emeritus of English
David Drabold, Dist. Professor of Physics
Marsha Dutton, Samuel and Susan Crowl Professor of Literature
Andrew Escobedo, Assoc. Professor of English
Andrea Frohne, Assoc. Professor of African Art History
Loreen Giese, Professor of English
Sherrie Gradin, Professor of English
Alonzo Hamby, Dist. Professor Emeritus of History
Gabriel Hartley, Assoc. Professor of English
Steven Hays, Assoc. Professor of Classics and World Religions
Megan Helgeson, Asst. Lecturer of Modern Languages
Robert Hikida, Dist. Professor Emeritus of Biomedical Sciences
Gary Holcomb, Professor of African American Studies
Jessica Hollis, Asst. Professor of English
Janis Holm, Professor of English
Mara Holt, Assoc. Professor of English
Annie Howell, Assoc. Professor of Film
Gregory Janson, Assoc. Professor of Child and Family Studies
Katherine Jellison, Professor of History
Nicholas Kiersey, Assoc. Professor of Political Science, Chillicothe
Jennie Klein, Assoc. Professor of Art History
Raymond Klimek, Asst. Professor of Photography and Integrated Media
Lynne Lancaster, Professor of Classics and World Religions
Laura Larson, Assoc. Professor of Photography and Integrated Media
Judith Yaross Lee, Professor of Communication Studies
Sergio Lopez-Permouth, Professor of Mathematics
Loren Lybarger, Assoc. Professor of Classics and World Religions
Nancy Manring, Assoc. Professor of Political Science
Jeff Marks, Sr. Lecturer of Modern Languages
Kevin Mattson, Connor Study Professor of Contemporary History
Jaclyn Maxwell, Assoc. Professor of History and Classics/World Religions
Joseph McLaughlin, Assoc. Professor of English
Donald Miles, Professor of Biological Sciences
Scott Minar, Professor of English, Lancaster
Damian Nance, Dist. Professor of Geology
William Owens, Assoc. Professor of Classics and World Religions
Betsy Partyka, Professor of Modern Languages
Hajrudin Pasic, Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Harold Perkins, Assoc. Professor of Geography
Marina Peterson, Assoc. Professor of Performance Studies
Daniel Phillips, Professor of Physics
Mark Phillips, Dist. Professor of Music
Herta Rodina, Assoc. Professor of Modern Languages
Mary Rogus, Assoc. Professor of Journalism
Mark Rollins, Assoc. Professor Emeritus of English
Willem Roosenburg, Professor of Biological Sciences
Gar Rothwell, Dist. Professor Emeritus of Plant Biology
Stephen Scanlan, Assoc. Professor of Sociology
Miriam Shadis, Assoc. Professor of History
David Sharpe, Senior Lecturer of English
Robert Sheak, Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Allan Showalter, Professor of Plant Biology
Joseph Slade, Professor of Media Arts and Studies
Carey Snyder, Assoc. Professor of English
Patricia Stokes, Asst. Professor of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Kathleen Sullivan, Assoc. Professor of Political Science
Barry Thomas, Professor Emeritus of Modern Languages
Debra Thompson, Asst. Professor of Political Science
Daniel Torres, Professor of Modern Languages
Kevin Uhalde, Assoc. Professor of History
Richard Vedder, Dist. Professor Emeritus of Economics
Amy White, Assoc. Professor of Philosophy, Zanesville
Risa Whitson, Assoc. Professor of Geography
Jackie Wolf, Professor of Social Medicine
Sarah Wyatt, Professor of Plant Biology
Linda Zionkowski, Professor of English
