|
Omega Man named new President of a PWI
New president recalls his days as an OU undergraduate
2004-09-20
By Nick Claussen
Athens NEWS Associate Editor
It wasn't that long ago that Roderick McDavis was an Ohio University student, walking past Cutler Hall on the College Green, wondering about what the people in the building were doing.
Today, the new OU president sits inside his Cutler Hall office leading the institution, sometimes wondering if any of the students walking past his office will one day be sitting in his chair.
McDavis took over as president this summer after former President Robert Glidden retired. In his new position at OU, McDavis has some big plans for the university and hopes to draw on his experiences as a student in the late 1960s to help lead the institution.
His announced goals so far include increasing minority enrollment, increasing total enrollment, improving the university's reputation in regard to the "party school" image, and improving the university's standing as a research institution.
McDavis announced during the September meeting of the OU Board of Trustees that he has created an Urban Scholars program to create scholarships for minority students living in urban areas. McDavis and his wife, Deborah, have contributed $8,000 to the campaign to fund the program, and several others have donated to the program as well.
Increasing diversity on campus is important to McDavis, and he said the Urban Scholars program is just one way to reach this goal.
When McDavis was a student, the percentage of minority students on campus was much higher than it is now, he said. When he visited the campus as a high-school student, McDavis recalls seeing other minority students on campus, and that was one of many things that he liked about the university.
"I felt like I fit in," McDavis said.
In order to bring more minority students to campus, OU first needs to get more minority students to visit campus, McDavis said. The Urban Scholars program will help with this, but the university will also work in other ways to attract these students, he added.
Of the total student population, only around 8 percent of the students are minority students, McDavis said. He hopes to increase that figure to around 15 percent or higher. That means he hopes to more than double the minority student population, because he also hopes to increase total enrollment at the university.
This is a touchy subject in the city of Athens, since hiking enrollment inevitably has both positive and negative impacts on the local community.
Asked how high he wants to increase enrollment, McDavis said that will depend on what type of institution the university wants to become. OU officials are studying the issue now, and will decide how large the university should become and what should be done to bring in more students, McDavis said.
Glidden stated during the last year of his presidency that he felt OU needed to increase its enrollment by up to 2,000 to 3,000 students over the next few years. Currently, enrollment on the Athens campus is just over 19,000, which is down slightly from last fall's count. The numbers have been gradually increasing since the late 1970s, when enrollment dropped into the 13,000s. Enrollment had peaked at 19,314 in 1970-71, the year after McDavis graduated.
MCDAVIS ARRIVED ON CAMPUS in 1965 as a member of the track team and someone who was excited about being a Bobcat. He had been recruited by Ohio State University, but felt "overwhelmed" by the large campus and student population. He received some information from OU, so he decided to visit the campus.
"The first day I was on campus I fell in love with Ohio University," McDavis recalled. As a freshman, he lived in Lincoln Hall on the East Green, ran track, and did not do as well in class as he had hoped.
In track, he ran the 100-yard sprint and the 220-yard relay. At that time, the track distances were measured in yards, instead of meters as they are today.
"I was pretty good," McDavis said. But while he did well for the track team, his grade point average was only around a 2.0 or a 2.1.
In order to improve his grades, he quit the track team and focused more on his studies. His sophomore year he lived in Scott Quad, and during his junior and senior years he lived in a rental on Hooper Street and in the Carriage Hill Apartments complex. By the time he graduated, his grade point average was up to around 3.3, McDavis said.
Among activities he was involved in as a student, McDavis belonged to Omega Psi Phi fraternity. The fraternity, he said, helped him gain leadership skills and other attributes.
Like on other campuses during the late 1960s and early 1970s, turbulence roiled OU and Athens, with anti-war protests and riots, and in response to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970.
McDavis had a brother who served in Vietnam, but he also understood why many OU students were protesting. He did not take an active role in the protests, in part because he was working as a student teacher at the time and felt that he should be objective.
McDavis student-taught an Ohio history class in the Nelsonville schools, either in eighth or ninth grade. In addition to his teaching, he helped coach the Nelsonville track team for a year, McDavis said.
Due to the riots and turmoil of spring 1970, the university closed before the end of the academic quarter and did not hold a graduation ceremony.
"I was disappointed," McDavis said about the premature end of the school year. Over the years, he has thought a lot about the university's decision to close early, and now he can say that the administrators made the right decision in order to keep everyone safe, he said.
NOW THAT HE IS PRESIDENT, McDavis is very much looking forward to the commencement ceremonies in June.
"It will be my first (graduation ceremony) at Ohio University," he said.
He said he's looking forward to numerous other programs and activities at the university, and already has made his presence known in several ways.
OU officials previously had decided to tear down Mill Street Apartments, but McDavis changed that plan. He has put the razing on hold, and announced that the university will listen to inquiries from developers who might be interested in renovating the apartments.
OU is sending out its Requests For Proposals (RFPs) today, and McDavis hopes to be able to make a decision on the complex by the end of the quarter or early in winter quarter.
In dealing with athletics, McDavis has mentioned that he wants to see improvement in the programs because they can bring a lot of positives to the university.
The OU Board of Trustees voted to increase the athletics department budget by $1.5 million over the next three years before McDavis became president, he noted. The athletics department needs more than just money in order to succeed, but the university does have a track record of success in athletics, McDavis said.
When he was a student, the football team played in the Tangerine Bowl and the men's basketball team also had success, McDavis remembered. The two high-profile sports can win again, and McDavis wants the university to do what it can to help field winning teams, he said.
McDavis has watched the football team play, and has gotten involved in several other activities on and off campus. He and his wife enjoy the Hockhocking Adena Bikeway and plan to use the bike path for exercise, McDavis said.
He also plans to exercise regularly in the Ping Center with students, hopefully even getting in some pick-up basketball games.
"I love to go out and play a little basketball," McDavis said. He has been to Wal-Mart already, and has spent time visiting and looking around the Athens area.
He has not found any of his former professors still teaching on campus, but he did run into one retired professor who talked to him. That professor, McDavis said, dug into his teaching records and found McDavis' grade as a student in his class.
"I'm pleased to report that it was an 'A,'" McDavis said.
As a student, he received plenty of "A's" while at OU. Now as president, McDavis hopes to receive passing marks and achieve as much as he can leading the institution.
|
Linear Mode
