E. Gordon Gee (President West Virginia U.)

[buckeyebri]

How stupid. Don't get me wrong, he shouldn't have said what he said, but to get fired over it? Talk about pussification of America.

I think it is less about pussification and more about political correctness. When you are in a role such as his, you have to be aware of what you can and can't say. With the way media and especially social media is today people know things on one side of the world the minute it happens on the other.

 

[jlb1705]

So Dr. Gee , after raising billions of dollars advocating for the real mission of the university, is being ushered into retirement over some shit he said about sports?

Fucking hell, this is stupid. The fact that it comes to this says way more about the rest of us than it says about Dr. Gee and the remarks he made.

 

[jlb1705]

I think it is less about pussification and more about political correctness.

There's a difference?

 

[colobuck79]

So sad. We are letting sports journalists run our university.

 

[Bucknut24]

So Dr. Gee , after raising billions of dollars advocating for the real mission of the university, is being ushered into retirement over some shit he said about sports?

Fucking hell, this is stupid. The fact that it comes to this says way more about the rest of us than it says about Dr. Gee and the remarks he made.

people in this country has lost their balls

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Mve0zRiw6w"]Marbles - YouTube[/ame]

 

[desert_buckeye]

I think it is less about pussification and more about political correctness. When you are in a role such as his, you have to be aware of what you can and can't say. With the way media and especially social media is today people know things on one side of the world the minute it happens on the other.

Agree about the political correctness point. It also depends on who you have supposedly "offended" with your remarks. Makes me wonder why it took months for his remarks to become public. You can't even joke around anymore without [censored]ing someone off or offending someone. As you stated, as a university president he should have known better than to say the things he said, but it shouldn't have come to his forced or unforced retirement because of it. There's plenty of politicians out there that say some pretty stupid [Mark May] and continually get a pass.

 

[BengalsAndBucks]

I can't tell you how much this infuriates me. This is complete fucking bullshit. I wasn't remotely embarrassed by Gee's comments, but I'm embarrassed by this.

 

[BayBuck]

I think it is less about pussification and more about political correctness. When you are in a role such as his, you have to be aware of what you can and can't say. With the way media and especially social media is today people know things on one side of the world the minute it happens on the other.

Political correctness = pussification

It seems like every other headline on a given sports site is about someone apologizing for hurting someone else's feelings, and sports have become such a huge part of our lives that those "stories" drive events in other, more meaningful parts of our culture (i.e. politics and academia).

This is truly shameful. Farewell, Dr. Gee, and God bless you.

 

[Dee-Liem]

Well, I guess all I can say is, I think President Gee made Ohio State a better place when he served as president, regardless of what he said (on multiple occasions).

It probably wasn't a coincidence that the Board of Trustees is meeting June 5, 6, and 7 (announced May 31). I personally think the BOT forced Gee out, but we'll never know.

I wanted Bernard Muir as the new Director of Athletics at Ohio State. I don't know about the president. I just hope he/she appreciates athletics and embraces the student body (so no 'drunken orgy' comments).

 

[Dee-Liem]

So sad. We are letting sports journalists run our university.

Look at it my way: President Gee created more positive change in thousands of students (most of the time indirectly) than journalists ever will.

Every single story is written/broadcast one minute and forgotten the next. That's not the same as a university professor or official.

I remember a ton of lessons from Ohio State professors (when I went there).

 

[Mariotwins]

I don't have anything constructive to say but man this sucks.

 

[jclvd_23]

Sorry to see President Gee go.
Any way this leads to our illustrious Athletic Director being replaced?

 

[OH10]

I admit to being embarrassed by the comments by Gee, but retirement is an extreme overreaction.

 

[Dee-Liem]

Sorry to see President Gee go.
Any way this leads to our illustrious Athletic Director being replaced?

Sometimes new leadership always wants 'their' people in place. It happens a lot in every industry.

I actually thought that Ohio State would just let Gene Smith's contract run out (and not renew it). I don't know about that thought anymore (been wavering).

Right now, I don't like the fact that some people (media) are patting themselves on the back for contributing to Gee's departure. If anything, Gee did it to himself (in December).

 

[BayBuck]

On a more positive note, best wishes to Joseph Alutto in his second term as interim president, which will probably only slightly delay his planned retirement as provost -- though it would make for an easy transition if he were to stick around as Gee's permanent replacement, and he would be well qualified for the position.