http://www.hustlebelt.com/2010/8/17/1626573/silly-style-sticklers-ohio-doesnt#add-comment 

I and some other Bobcat fans have left some love for our school in the comments.

 

I defer to Dr. Alden and Love's buddy on this one.  Thanks Dr. Glidden!

http://thepost.baker.ohiou.edu/archives/102297/ohio.html

agreed with remarks both here and on the blog. I don't mind OU (but not O.U.) as a casual and regional reference but prefer OHIO in national coverage, and Ohio U makes me throw up in my mouth a little. Although I knew about the trademark battle with Ohio A&M I never realized THEY sued US. The balls of that, it makes me hate their omission of the word State that much more.

From The Post article linked to earlier in this string:

"I don't comprehend the concept of one institution owning 'Ohio'," said Andy Geiger, Ohio State's athletics director.

"Both have great traditions of being in Ohio. We'd promise never to use 'Ohio' in green and white, and I'm sure Ohio University would promise never to use 'Ohio' in scarlet and gray. But by no means will we back down from this," he said. 

If those comments accurately reflect what then Ohio State AD Andy Geiger said, I can't draw an absolute conclusion about him. I vacillate between "arrogant" and "clueless/dimwitted."

From East Lansing comes this late-breaking news: "Michigan State promises they won't use just 'Michigan' in maize and blue on their athletics uniforms." How about this? They don't use "Michigan" at all, at least on their recent BB unies!

The people at A&M are ... Nuts! 

IMO, we shouldn't have allowed them to continue doing their script "Ohio." The comment should have been, "We don't give a damn who dots the "i"; we want to know who's going to cross the "t's" ...

I absolutely disagree with you here. Has it been 100% successful? Of course not, but it's only been 15 years, fighting an uphill battle, armed with modest athletics tradition versus the 800 lb gorilla in cowtown. The difference between now and then is unbelievable. No one expected it to happen overnight. People need to quit s**king hind tit because something is hard. To quote Martin Sheen in the American President...Fight the fights that need fighting. Take what's ours. Win or lose on 9/18, WE ARE OHIO. Period.

Oh friendly ghost, I am older than thou ... And while I, too, grew up with the nomenclature "OU" and "Ohio U," I also understand the importance of making an effort to preserve "marks" and, while sportscasters tend to use the "U" or "University" in the context of OUr school's name, I definitely have observed a change in the media since the brouhaha with the Upstate Nuts -- that is, regular references in schedules and scores that depict us simply as "Ohio."

There are some who believe President Alden's tenure was far from perfect.

Hard to believe, but some people feel the same about me. (T. I. C.)

I'm far from perfect myself. 

During Dr. Alden's tenure Ohio was able to expand its research capacity, the regional campus system was established and the Honors College was created. I believe this was also an era of expanded international presence. The university acquired more land and property -- some of which perhaps contributed to some financial woes in the 70s after university enrollments plummeted . However, some of the expanded footprint has contributed to what I think is one of the most beautiful campuses around. And, Ohio showed excellence in several sports including baseball, basketball and football.

A point of clarification, Vern the Fern, as we affectionately called him, did not create the branch system.  This was done, mainly, under the leadership of President John Calhoun Baker and President Herman Gerlach James as well as Dean Adolph H. Armbruster.  However, The Fern did expand the branch concept into a regional campus concept and worked hard to expand the whole Ohio University system.   

Sorry to stray off topic, but I'd like to expand on my earlier note about Vern Alden.  A few facts about his tenure:

1.  The size of the administration under Alden grew by more than 25%.  Many of these people were Harvard types who had plans to bring the "Great Society" to SE Ohio. They couldn't find enough office space for these employees and there were many complaints that they were all trying to reinvent the wheel with wild programs that didn't make sense for a Midwestern university.  Ultimately, many of them became frustrated and left after a few years, but the bloated administration numbers remained.

2.  Alden took a Robert McNamara approach to building the university -- spend as much as you can on buildings and then open the doors to anyone you can find to fill the space.  As a result, there were MANY students who didn't belong in a college, much less a mid-size university in SE Ohio.  The whole "Harvard on the Hocking" approach brought a fairly sizable contingent  of East Coast students to Athens.  Many of them brought their appetites for drugs and alcohol with them.  These, folks, were the beginnings of the "party school" image.

3.  Alden had a hard time keeping the finances in balance as he went on his building spree.  Ironically, he dragged his feet after having promised the faculty that he would replace the hopelessly outdated Chubb library.  He then got a "promise" of a large donation from a board member to build the Convo, and when those funds never materialized was forced to downsize the original library structure.  Needless to say, the faculty was pissed...yet the board named the library after him.

4.  He couldn't afford to pay most non-faculty employees a living wage.  The food service and maintenance staffs went on strike and the university got horrible press because students couldn't eat in the cafeterias.

5. Eventually the party school image, student unrest and weak academic standards began to affect the university's ability to attract quality highs school students.  Later, enrollment dropped (after the Kent shootings) and Alden's pyramid scheme looked awfully reckless.

6.  Alden ultimately was asked by the faculty to resign and he did.  The board then brought in the wrong guy (Claude Sowle) to clean up the mess and we basically ended up in state receivership due to all of the debt. 

Good to know that OBC members are being treated better this time.  The seats we got via OBC last time were the worst seats I've ever had at any stadium, in any sport, in my entire life.  We were in the back row, under the upper deck with two pillars blocking our view of the field.  I happy to hear that they cleaned up their act. 

SBH, I can't take you to task on most of your points without undertaking some research for which I don't have time. But on the comment above, either you are way off base or Vernon Alden worked spectacularly fast:

1. He arrived at Ohio University in 1962.
2. I arrived at Ohio University in 1963.
3. At the time I arrived on campus, Playboy magazine was proclaiming Ohio University as the Midwest's playground.
4. Also coincident with my arrival on campus: sanctions by the university to quell the St. Patty's Day revelry that apparently was way out of hand.  That certainly couldn't have happened through the single St. Patty's Day of Dr. Alden's tenure!  In fact, it would seem that the university under President Alden observed the craziness and was taking steps to curb it.

Not sure why you're so determined to run down Vernon, but don't build your case with hogwash that can be discounted so easily.