Ohio State Sophomores Required to Live on Campus

[rocketman]

Old fart here: My sister entered OSU in the fall of 53. There were 2 dorms, Baker and Canfield and new dorms were just beginning to rise. She was assigned to Baker and wrote home about the johns with urinals still in them as Baker had been the mens dorm until that year. The next year she was in Bradley, one of the new dorms for women. (Jesse Owens was NOT allowed to live in Baker Hall even though he was a student, OSU housing was for "whites only.")

When I entered in 61 Steeb, Stradley and Park were mens dorms, Baker remained a girls dorm and there was talk of new dorms to be built on the north edge of the campus.

What gets lost in all of this is that the classroom buildings around the oval had been built for a school of somewhere in the vicinity of 10 to 15K. Thus, though the number of dorm rooms shot up dramatically between 1945 and 1970, the amount of classroom space did not. Rooming houses and Greek houses were abundant and solved a good portion of the upper class housing needs. I can't remember many kids who lived in apartments. I moved into one as a sophomore and I remember how different that was from what most of my peers experienced.

The lack of classroom space led to bigger classes and to the famous, "Look at the person on your left, look at the person on your right, two of three of you will not be here next year," speech. Open enrollment meant you got in, English 411 - 413 and Algebra 410 made sure you didn't overstay your welcome.

When I left in June of 67 the north campus complex had been completed and the towers were on the rise, but little had been done to fund more classroom space. Rhodes kept promising the folks at all the county fairs that, "When your child finishes high school and wants to go college, there'll be a room there waiting for him or her." He didn't bother to mention that there wouldn't be enough classroom space or that his bonds (sold by The Ohio Company, the financial wing of the Wolf Brothers [WBNS, Dispatch]whose plane flew him around the state) did not contain provisions to pay for classrooms and professors to fill those classes. This was true at BG, Kent, Ohio and Miami as well as OSU.

We often referred to OSU as the Big Farm. The Ag school owned all the land that is now West Campus, Schottenstine and the Woody Hayes Center. The Sundial, the campus humor magazine was dying, but still made money selling sweatshirts that read "Ohia State" mocking Rhodes accent.

Under the category, Can You Believe This?, when I entered OSU female students had hours. As freshmen they had to be in the dorms by 10 on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and by 1 on Fridays and Saturdays. They were given something like 7 or 8 11s per quarter to use on Wednesdays and Sundays and three 2s for Fridays or Saturdays. As sophs they had as many 11s and 2s as they wanted to take. BUT, the dorm monitors and the dorm councils sent out "goons" to watch for PDA, Public Display of Affection, kiss a little to hard or allow your date to fondle your buns and you could be hauled before dorm council and they'd take away your late hour privileges! God help you if you were late... like the time I got a freshie back at 1:05... she lost her late privileges for the rest of the quarter. (and I stopped dating her... who wanted to go out with someone who had to be in by 10 all the time?) Further, all female students had to sign in and out any time they left the dorm if they knew they would be out past 7PM, stating where they were going and how long they anticipated being there. Lord help the girl who failed to sign out, or claimed to be staying at a friends house and was discovered someplace else. Need I add that men were never allowed above the lobby of any of the girls dorms, certainly never in a room except on move in day, nor were male students allowed to have females in their rooms. Winter could be awfully long for those without cars and access to the submarine races.

Oh, and walk? Hell, ROTC was mandatory for ALL male students for the first two years... or you could take an extra 9 hours per year in upper level math, science or language. That meant an hour of close order drill per week either on the parking lot behind the ROTC building or in the east side of the stadium in inclement weather. On the first Monday in May we had a huge review with Army, Air Force and Navy ROTC, the corps blanketing the Oval.

By my senior year things had started to lighten up. Female seniors were given keys to the front doors of their dorms and sorority houses and were allowed to come and go as they pleased on weekends. There were still no visiting priveleges for the opposite sex. Apartments were being built all around the campus and no one wanted to live in a dorm. The fraternity houses were clamping down on members and forcing them to live in the house or pay a fee equivilant to the cost of the rent.

If you ask me what killed the dorms, rooming houses and Greeks in the late 60s and early 70s, it was the "en locus parentis" rules the university tried to uphold at the height of the sexual revoultion.

By the time I returned to school in 69 the student rebellions had forced the review off the oval and when the Vietnam War ended compulsory ROTC was gone.

Wow, amazing how things have changed. When did OSU housing become integrated? I had no idea about compulsory ROTC - was it like that at all state schools?

When you come back to see campus nowadays, what's your initial reaction - good or bad?

 

[coastalbuck]

Working at a university I'll make two observations from the front lines. Make no mistake, students in dorms equals big money, very big money.! Secondly, academics, retention, pride, community, grad rates, ect., would all be improved by such a move.

 

[cincibuck]

Wow, amazing how things have changed. When did OSU housing become integrated? I had no idea about compulsory ROTC - was it like that at all state schools?

The Merreill act (for whom the tower is named I believe) offered state legislatures land and/or money to build or expand state colleges if, in exchange, they would legislate that all male students be required to take basic military instruction and that they offer ROTC programs. As I understand it, this was in response to the lack of officers ready and able to serve in the Union Army of 1861 - 65. All land grant colleges were covered by the act and thus required to have ROTC until something like 1972 when anti- Vietnam protestors were demanding that ROTC be abolished.

When you come back to see campus nowadays, what's your initial reaction - good or bad?

I love Ohio State... loved it when my sister went there, loved it when I went there, love it now. It is an International school, as big or as small as you want to make it and filled with everything you need to make your own personal journey. could it be better? of course, but I will always be grateful for the opportunity and the experiences I had at OSU. Time and change will surely show how firm thy friendship, Oh Hi Oh.

 

[OmahaBeef]

As a sophomore who is currently typing this from a dorm on North Campus (Archer) I just thought I'd offer my 2 cents.

1. I LOVED my year in Morrill! We had a suite of 8 (like some mentioned, some have 10) and it was a lot of fun. The social seen in the towers is a lot different because you don't get to know as many people in other suites quite as much, but you get to know your suitemates really well, and like 4-5 of my suitemates from last year are really good friends of mine.

2. I feel like we're at a housing shortage right now. The "new dorms" people are talking about are hardly dorms at all. Neilwood sucks (I know someone who lives there and her pipes freeze all the time) and the apartment style living down on south are basically just for athletes.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

and the apartment style living down on south are basically just for athletes.

That seriously bothers me. Ohio State never had athletic dorms even when they were allowed by the NCAA, and I'd hate to think they're somehow weaseling their way into them now. In my day, athletes truly were mixed in among the student body, and I knew a couple of kids who had football players as roommates. Granted, they weren't stuck in the 16 person suites in the towers, nor did many end up in Taylor Tower. They were, however, mixed in with the general student body.

I'd be very troubled to learn of "special" dorms for athletes.

 

[jlb1705]

Working at a university I'll make two observations from the front lines. Make no mistake, students in dorms equals big money, very big money.! Secondly, academics, retention, pride, community, grad rates, ect., would all be improved by such a move.

Yes, very big money - especially at a place like Ohio State where the vast majority of the residence hall buildings are over thirty years old and paid for. There's no sense in having empty beds on campus, especially when you consider financial impact and the positive impact it should have on retention and persistence to degrees.

That seriously bothers me. Ohio State never had athletic dorms even when they were allowed by the NCAA, and I'd hate to think they're somehow weaseling their way into them now. In my day, athletes truly were mixed in among the student body, and I knew a couple of kids who had football players as roommates. Granted, they weren't stuck in the 16 person suites in the towers, nor did many end up in Taylor Tower. They were, however, mixed in with the general student body.

I'd be very troubled to learn of "special" dorms for athletes.

That would bother me too. I hope that's not really the case.

 

[DaytonBuck]

I'd really miss this sport jacket

 

[OmahaBeef]

That seriously bothers me. Ohio State never had athletic dorms even when they were allowed by the NCAA, and I'd hate to think they're somehow weaseling their way into them now. In my day, athletes truly were mixed in among the student body, and I knew a couple of kids who had football players as roommates. Granted, they weren't stuck in the 16 person suites in the towers, nor did many end up in Taylor Tower. They were, however, mixed in with the general student body.

I'd be very troubled to learn of "special" dorms for athletes.

Officially the way it works (as far as I know) is that priority is based on class rank and GPA. However, the athletes get first pick, and since that dorm (if you can call it that) is so nice, and so small, it ends up getting filled up with football/basketball players etc. For instance, I know thats where Oden lived last year. To be honest that doesn't get to me as much as the fact that all of our dorms are so old, and there is very little variety.

Does anyone even know how the university would go about replacing all of its North and South Campus dorms? The dorms on South especially are becoming pretty old and decrepit. It would seem like it'd be a nightmare to replace them because you wouldn't be able to do it all at once so there'd just be construction on campus forever as you do a couple dorms at a time, all the while putting a bigger squeeze on the campus housing system.

 

[cincibuck]

Does anyone even know how the university would go about replacing all of its North and South Campus dorms? The dorms on South especially are becoming pretty old and decrepit. It would seem like it'd be a nightmare to replace them because you wouldn't be able to do it all at once so there'd just be construction on campus forever as you do a couple dorms at a time, all the while putting a bigger squeeze on the campus housing system.

Have no fear. Ever notice how the construction cranes never leave the campus area? As long as there is a legislature with money to spend, contactors and trade unions with money to give to campaign funds and parents who want Johnny or Jill to go to college there will be money to "solve" the university housing problem.

I noticed your use of the term decrepit... that often means that money has not been spent on maintenance, i.e. build it, wear it out and replace it and the public will never find out that you weren't a good steward with what they gave you... ever notice how your fees keep going up?

 

[CleveBucks]

The plan is to install A/C and more bathrooms in the south campus dorms. Also all the administrative offices in Lincoln will be moving over into a new building at the corner of Lane and Tuttle. As of now there isn't enough dorm space unless you go back to 16 person suites in the towers. I'm not sure if Archer still has admin offices too or if they got moved over to the Gateway with HR.

From the article:

Ohio State can house 9,800 students on campus now; about 5,600 are freshmen and about 2,900 are students who live in campus housing for a second year, Hollingsworth said.

He said housing for at least 3,500 students would have to be added to accommodate sophomores.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Does anyone even know how the university would go about replacing all of its North and South Campus dorms? The dorms on South especially are becoming pretty old and decrepit. It would seem like it'd be a nightmare to replace them because you wouldn't be able to do it all at once so there'd just be construction on campus forever as you do a couple dorms at a time, all the while putting a bigger squeeze on the campus housing system.

I don't think you'd want to replace the south campus dorms--at least not the oldest ones with the most character and architectural interest. My guess is that the buildings will remain, but they'll gut-rehabbed and modernized.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

doesnt the university own that apartment complex (fisher commons?) out on lane/kenny?

 

[CleveBucks]

The university owns the land but not the buildings technically. They don't house undergrads either, I don't think.

 

[jimotis4heisman]

The Columbus Dispatch : Landlords oppose dorm plan

Requiring Ohio State University sophomores to live on campus would be a disaster for the university neighborhood, a major landlord said.

"It would be like a bomb went off in the middle of the area," said Richard Talbott, whose In-Town Homes & Apartments company owns more than 600 rental units there. "You'd lose 33 percent of the customer base, and we'd all suffer."
Talbott was reacting to an announcement Thursday that OSU President E. Gordon Gee wants all 6,000 sophomores to live on campus, except the small number with family in town. OSU officials discussed the proposal with board members and plan to hire a consultant to see how it could be accomplished.
Only freshmen have to live in dormitories now, and they make up 5,600 of the 9,800 on-campus students. About 1,450 students voluntarily stay in dormitories as sophomores, and the rest live off campus.