Author: Tung Nguyen

By Maddie Matos, A&E Editor

Ohio Wesleyan University has placed a new emphasis on freedom of speech.

The Free Speech Review panel was passed at the April faculty meeting, and is awaiting approval by OWU trustees and WCSA board. The panel has two main purposes, according to professor of history Michael Flamm.

“The first was to create a clear statement of principles regarding the university’s commitment to academic freedom and free expression,” Flamm said.

“Creating this board will help students and staff to better understand where OWU stands on these issues,” Flamm said. The board was created in response to different issues on college campuses.

“A few campuses have experienced major incidents related to free speech,” OWU President Rock Jones said.  “In this context, and with a firm commitment to the values of academic freedom and free speech, I thought it would be helpful to ask a group to engage the campus community in conversation about these issues and to develop a statement articulating OWU’s commitment to academic freedom and free speech.”

Supporting free speech is often a valued ideal in the world of liberal arts, making the decision to support it not surprising for people.

“Students can help the board by practicing free speech in an educated way,” Flamm said. Others feel that students can understand the need for speech.

“Students can be most helpful by recognizing the benefit of free speech as a fundamental expression of freedom in a democratic society and as the means by which much-needed social change has originated throughout history,” Jones said.

The approval of the committee does not mean that any sort of speech will be allowed on campus. Students will more openly express their views, but that does not protect hate speech or dangerous words that can lead to dangerous actions. The board hopes that it will be able to handle those situations carefully.

“At times, this means tolerating speech that is truly repulsive,” Jones said. “In those times, we must speak in response, naming that which is repulsive and contrary to our values.”

The board was approved during the same meeting that banned the journalism department from faculty meetings. Journalism staff and students will be emailed a summary of these meetings from now on.

By Reilly Wright, Managing Editor

Since her first step on campus, Ohio Wesleyan senior Chloe Dyer has dedicated her time to food security and sustainability in the local community.

Dyer’s efforts toward food recovery were recently recognized with a 2018 Charles J. Ping Student Service Award and $250 Legacy Award mini-grant to benefit the charity of her choice. Since founding OWU’s Food Recovery Network chapter, a movement toward recovering perishable food and donating it to people in need, over 3,000 pounds of unused food has been donated.

The Ohio Campus Compact’s annual awards are aimed to recognize undergraduate students reflecting strong leadership and community service. Dyer said her Legacy Award funds will be donated to Grace Clinic Delaware, a free medical ministry that provides those in need with free medical assistance.

Dyer learned about the Food Recovery Network (FRN) during her freshman year food justice track of Fresh X, a part of OWU’s first year orientation. She said FRN’s recovered food from Chartwells has translated into thousands of meals for people facing food insecurity.

“When I learned about the Food Recovery Network, I wanted to start a chapter at OWU to address the issue and help combat hunger in the Delaware community,” she said. “FRN allows us to divert food that would be thrown away on campus to community partners who can provide it to those in need.”

Ohio Wesleyan President Rock Jones nominated Dyer for the award and said her local work as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) also reflects her future in civic engagement.

“I would only say that Chloe Dyer exemplifies the highest ideals of Ohio Wesleyan University, connecting a rigorous academic program with deep and thoughtful engagement with the world, through study travel and through extensive volunteer service,” Jones said.

According to Jones, this campus-community partnership Dyer helped build has led the FRN to be an integral part of Ohio Wesleyan’s Sustainability Plan. This is a newly adopted effort to guide OWU toward a more sustainable and healthier future both for campus and for the earth.

Although Dyer recognizes FRN’s success, she said the problem is far from solved. In the Marketplace of Hamilton-Williams Campus Center, Dyer said they sometimes have donated over 100 pounds of leftovers from one meal in one day.

“When you consider that we have two dining halls open for three meals a day, four days out of the week and one open on the weekend, it shows how much food goes to waste simply because the infrastructure doesn’t exist to take surplus food to where it’s needed,” Dyer said.

“This isn’t an issue restricted to our dining hall, either, but happens in cafeterias and restaurants throughout the U.S.,” she said. “At the same time, thousands of families in Delaware alone go hungry. Our work with FRN is an important first step, but there’s a lot of room for our efforts to be expanded.”

By Transcript Staff

Retention rates are a serious topic amongst colleges and universities

While most people hang on to the retention of students, they also overlook retention of faculty/staff as well. Without faculty to teach students, why would students attend college? Ohio Wesleyan University is one of these school that are seeing decreases, however, President Rock Jones is sure that OWU is prepared for such occurrences

“Ohio Wesleyan has established practices for providing support for departments when faculty leave unexpectedly, and for allocating tenure-track faculty lines,” Jones said. “The administration, in consultation with the University Governance Committee and the Board of Trustees, determines the number of full-time, tenure-track faculty positions to be allocated, and the Academic Policy Committee of the faculty makes recommendations for where those positions should be allocated. As the size of the student body has decreased in recent years, the number of allocated faculty positions has decreased proportionally. We are quite focused on increasing the size of the student body and, concurrently, increasing the size of the faculty. In the meantime, we are committed to working with departments to insure students have access to the courses needed to complete their degrees and prepare them well for life beyond OWU.

Even so, The Transcript has been notified that five professors are leaving OWU for different positions. And at least one member is retiring.

 

Ana Oancea, Assistant Professor of Modern Foreign Languages:

“I was recently offered a position as Assistant Professor of French at the University of Delaware. Though I greatly enjoyed my time at OWU, this university places me closer to my parents, who live in the DC area, and my husband, who was just offered a position at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. We’d been commuting over the past 5 years, which was certainly challenging, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to relocate together in the Northeast.”

“I am going to miss my great friends and colleagues in the MFL and beyond, and of course, the students. The French program has allowed me to meet many wonderfully smart and talented undergraduates, whose accomplishments at OWU have carried them very far. I’m particularly delighted I get to watch a number of such excellent students graduate this year!”

 

Christian G. Fink, Assistant Professor of Physics-Astronomy and Neuroscience

“I am tremendously grateful for the relationships I’ve developed with the students, faculty, administrators, and staff at Ohio Wesleyan. I will look back at my time here fondly. Leaving the OWU community was one of the most difficult decisions of my life, but in the end my wife and I determined it was the best option for our family.”

 

N. Kyle Smith, Associate Professor of Psychology

“In my time at OWU I’ve built a lot of great relationships with colleagues and students, and created memories that I’ll treasure forever.  It’s never easy to leave a place that’s been a home for 17 years, but I’m excited for what lies ahead in the next phase of my life.”

“As for the effect on the psychology department, it’s likely that our departure will present a short-term challenge, but I’m confident that our colleagues will use it as an opportunity to build an even stronger department that matches their vision for what a psychology department should be.  If I were a student, I’d be very interested to see what new opportunities this will create.”

 

Sarah L. Bunnell, Associate Professor of Psychology

“I have accepted a position as the Associate Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Amherst College. In terms of why I’m leaving, my future position is a great fit for my career goals and it’s a wonderful opportunity for our family. I will miss the OWU students tremendously, and I appreciate the opportunities that being a member of the OWU community has provided.”

 

David L. Eastman, Associate Professor of Religion

“There are some family factors that played into the decision to look for a job farther south.  Because the academic job market is so challenging right now, not many opportunities for movement come along. This is an opportunity to continue my teaching and research, while also working with student-athletes, which has been one of my primary passions here.”

“I have accepted a position as the John Glenn Sherill chair of Bible at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  I will be teaching many of the same classes and will remain actively involved in professional societies, publishing, and other research outlets. On one level, this represents A continuation of my current trajectory, although I will be doing it at a private high school instead of a university. I am hoping to recruit students from the school to come to Ohio Wesleyan in future years!”

Retiring

 

James (Jim) , Professor of Sociology/Anthropology

“I’m retiring because it is “time.”  At 70, I’m not as sharp as before but do perceive how my mental capacities have decreased.  Not my “academic knowledge,” which I think is as good as ever, but my ability to deliver it coherently.  I’ve especially noticed that my ability to organize and manage course requirements has declined. Briefly:  I “know” what I’ve always known, but cannot deliver it as well as before.  And my ability to choose and deliver readings and manage assignments has fallen quite a lot.”

“Low faculty morale is not a factor in my decision. But I would say that faculty morale is the lowest since I came 30 years ago. Some evidence is:  (1) Lower attendance at faculty meetings –a quorum is far  more difficult to achieve; (2) Number of younger faculty leaving for other institutions with their faculty lines not being replaced. This year OWU departments requested twenty positions, most of which were left overs from previous retirements and departures. The administration (in consultation with OWU Trustees) will fund four of the twenty.”

“I teach in two majors:  Sociology/Anthropology and East Asian Studies, which I’ve directed for the past dozen or so years.  East Asian Studies is an interdisciplinary program and therefore has no faculty of its own. Classes in the major are taught by faculty in departments like Comparative Literature, History, Modern Foreign Languages, and Politics and Government.  EAS therefore is dependent on those departments to provide classes that are relevant or required for the EAS major. Modern Foreign Languages is most problematic for the EAS major. It offers several semesters of Japanese taught by a talented and dedicated part-time instructor. However, since the departure of our previous full-time Chinese teacher about four years ago, Chinese enrollments are much lower than in previous years. Given the significance of China in today’s world, it is hard to imagine that the decline is caused by lowered student interest in Chinese, so something else must be going on.”

Various departments together requested 19 faculty positions be filled not counting the 5 new departures above in an anticipation of retirements, new positions and those positions that have not been filled over the past couple years. However, only four of those 19 will be filled for the 2019-2020 academic year.

There are also more scheduled departures after the 2018-2019 school year. All of this puts the university’s faculty number way down and relies heavily on adjuncts.

Jones remains optimistic that retention of faculty won’t be an issue in the coming years.

“OWU has an unusually strong faculty,” Jones said. “Students regularly report that their highest levels of satisfaction relate to the support they receive from faculty and to the quality of instruction they receive in the classroom. We will continue to work to retain faculty at OWU. In the past five years, faculty salaries at OWU have increased significantly in relation to faculty salaries at GLCA institutions. The faculty is working on issues related to faculty work-load. The Connect Today, Create Tomorrow campaign includes fundraising to increase support for faculty scholarly work, faculty innovation, and general support of faculty salaries.

Staff who worked on this story: Kienan O’Doherty, Reilly Wright, Maddie Matos, Jesse Sailer, Kit Weber, Tung Nguyen.

 

By Maddie Matos, A&E Editor

Sexual assault is something that has become a topic of discussion recently and some Ohio Wesleyan University students are trying to make a change for the better.

On April 4, students of the Chi Phi fraternity, members of the Peace and Justice (P&J) Small Living Unit and other students gathered in the R.W. Corns building to discuss what to do when a sexual assault occurs to them or a friend. Amy Hawthorne, a worker and speaker from Helpline, spoke to a crowd of thirty students.

Helpline is an organization in the United States that provides victims with resources and guidance on sexual crimes. Helpline has a branch in Delaware county that also supports Morrow county citizens as well.

Hawthorne came to talk to students as part of a P&J and Chi Phi project. Chi Phi has recently begun a board on sexual assault and have been going to different events on campus about the issue.

Hawthorne presented different strategies and statistics for assaults and how to deal with an assault. The focus of the event was how to help a friend.

Students in the crowd were interactive with Hawthorne as she spoke and the advice she gave.

“She was an engaging speaker and knew what she was talking about,” Chi Phi board member Ben Woodburn said.

The discussion began with students learning what an assault is and how common they are on college campuses. The statistics were harrowing for some audience members, but others saw the facts as reality.

“I wasn’t that surprised but it’s still not pleasant to hear things about sexual assault,” Woodburn said.

As the session progressed, students learned how to help their friend and the pressures that they may feel. Hawthorne encouraged students to listen to their friend when they come forward and help decide what is best for them. This behavior allows the victim to maintain control in the situation

“How we respond to a person makes an incredible difference.” Hawthorne said. “We don’t know how everyone is going to respond,”

The session was mandatory for Chi Phi members to attend as part of their board educating members on what an assault is and its consequences. The fraternity wants to help change the climate on campus and the reputation that comes with being in a fraternity.

““Fraternities in general have a terrible reputation, if we want to be different we have to be actively different.” Woodburn said.“It takes effort and takes wanting to learn,”

The session ended with students speaking out about their experiences on campus with assault, leaving a grim attitude for some. Students pointed out the issues with reporting their attacks or simply the lack of help they felt was available.

“It did surprise me a little bit when she asked how many people haven’t reported here at OWU and there weren’t a lot of hands raised,” Woodburn said.

By Maddie Matos, A&E Editor

Engaging students in the campus community can be challenging, but Ohio Wesleyan University proved it can be done through the different events hosted on campus.

Students gathered on the front lawn of Smith Hall to tie-dye different pieces of clothes. The activity was held on April 13th and was sponsored by the Student Involvement Office, as part of their Oh-Weekend series.

The event brought around thirty people to Smith, an outcome that excited those involved with the planning.

“This tie-dye event was kind of just a jump in the water and see what we got but it seemed like it was a real hit, and the weather was really helping too,” coordinator for student activities Dina Daltorio said.

The Oh-Weekends are a way for students to find activities on campus that prevent drinking or other reckless behaviors. The weekends in the past have included s’mores night, game nights and open mic night.

Students are asked to fill out surveys after each weekend to help pick what events happen on campus Different organizations are also allowed to sponsor an Oh-Weekend, like PRIDE did with their drag show on April 7th.

“Student organizations can fill out a funding form, so if it’s on the weekend and meets certain requirements, they can get up to 250 hundred dollars for the organization to have an Oh-Weekend,” Daltorio said.

Students from all dorms and genders came to the event, something that allows students a chance to engage and meet one another.

“It’s something you don’t really see too often,” Daltorio said.
The weather was a factor for students coming, with temperatures reaching up to 70 degrees fahrenheit.

“It’s so warm out so it feels like summer already,” freshman Jordan Barling said.

Event goers were given ice cream sandwiches as well as the supplies needed to tie-dye. Dye quickly ran out, leaving some late comers without dye.

For those who received dye, they were given instructions by student and staff leaders on how to prepare their new clothes, so they will be able to be worn later in the week.

Tie-dye is often a collective activity, with different groups and
organizations doing it as a form of bonding.

“It’s an interactive event,” Daltorio said.

By Tung Nguyen, Online Editor

How to succeed in businesses and how to effectively work in banks have been discussed year to year but “Morality in Business” does not seem so familiar for many people, both outside and inside the system.

G. Scott McComb made a visit to Ohio Wesleyan campus to share his knowledge as well as his experience about such subject on Apr. 12 in Benes Room B.

McComb is currently the president and chief executive officer of Ohio-based Heartland Bank. Before joining Heartland Bank in 1999, McComb was also an entrepreneur who has launched many successful businesses.

McComb started his lecture with the general basics of community banking. In fact, 92% of the United States’ banks are Community banks. Even though they only control less than 38% of the national assets, Community banks still stand a chance against the large-scale ones and people’s trust plays a big role in keeping these Community banks alive.

While large-scale banks use automated services to deal with a huge number of standardized accounts, Community banks put their eggs in maintaining long-term relationships with their core
customers by offering customized services, which require a substantial amount of people’s trust.

“There will be someone who really know their stuffs and will be able to guide you,” McComb said. “So don’t undermine the power of your Community banks.”

Heartland Bank itself largely relies on the confidence of its long-term customers to make incomes with the total assets of more than $683 million.

The financial crisis 2008 was also mentioned by McComb as one of the examples of how bad morality leads to devastated consequences. The crisis started when mortgage brokers initiated free loans to many homeowners without asking for pre-requisites and checking on their capabilities of paying.

Evan Cook, an OWU Economics major, said: “I definitely agree with him. Mortgage companies were pretty much giving out free loans to people that didn’t deserve them. The banks didn’t do their jobs and make sure the mortgage brokers were doing good works. When the bubble burst, people stopped trusting those banks, which helped cause the recession.”

Regarding to the decision-making process and the existing peer pressures in the working environments, McComb said: “There is no other way to put it. You just have to do the right thing, even if
the majority aren’t doing it. Let us keep it simple that way.”

After the lecture, Samantha Merino, an OWU freshman, said: “It was a nice reminder of the impact that small things contribute to the workplace. Mr. McComb did a great job on explaining these
complicated ideas to business oriented people.”