Now that I have finished basking in the misery up the road, a theme has been running through my head:

"What are you prepared to do?"

For those of you that are movie buffs, I have the vision of Sean Connery lying on the floor in Kevin Costner's arms, an indelible image from The Untouchables.

And as our little sister University slogs through weeks and months of bad press, I ask: What is OUr University prepared to do to re-engage its Alumni base and residents in Central and Southeastern Ohio to support the institution, both academic and athletic.

There is a major capital campaign who's public component if about to be launched.  There was the major gift to OU-COM to develop a new campus in Columbus.  Athletics has seen significant if not unprecedented success both on and off the field, with WVB, FB and BB having marquee moments over the last few years.

So, what is Cutler and the Convo prepared to do to push for unprecedented support from its constituents?  An Amnesty program for alumni that are/were also tOSU ticket holders?  Sideline and behind the scenes opportunities for wayward alumni at sporting events to engage those who had lost their way?  Revival of the "Victory With Honor" campaign on billboards, print and TV to compel those inactive alumni to become active participants and supporters of a program that is one of only 17 FBS schools without a major violation?

Athletics is the window to the University for many, so how will we spruce up the landscape?  I'll ask President McDavis those very questions when I see him next weekend, and suggest we all ask those questions of our contacts in the University to spur action while the opportunity presents itself.

 

Clarification . . . only $30 million of the $105 million will be used for the Columbus satellite campus, the rest will be used in Athens on various projects with an emphasis on medical research.  Two new research buildings in Athens are now in the planning stages to be fund, in part, by the earnings of this endowment.  

When you see him next weekend also ask him what  he's going to do to spruce up the landscape of the university.  This campus is in the worst physical shape that I've seen in the 32 years that I've lived here.