After more than 35 years, faculty meetings will no longer be open to reporters.
On April 18, Ohio Wesleyan faculty members voted to disallow The Transcript, the schoolâs independent student newspaper, from attending future faculty meetings.
Bob Gitter, professor of economics and a member of the facultyâs Executive Committee, presented the motion. Faculty asked the Executive Committee to reconsider the issue of banning The Transcriptâs attendance, according to the faculty meeting agenda.
Gitter read the agenda and said, âFaculty meetings will not be open to reporters and a new mechanism in the form of a faculty meeting summary will be made available to the public within 24 hours after the end of the faculty meeting.â
Gitter then called for executive session, which was supported.
The vote was 47-21 in favor of the motion.
âIt has a chilling effect on what people are willing to say if they feel the comments are going to be published in the newspaper,â he said.
The length of the meetings was also one of Gitterâs concerns.
âThe fact is, too often, going into executive session, the meetings are lasting much too long,â Gitter said. âHere it is 7:30 p.m. I had to stay and count balance, but the meeting didn’t get over until just a few minutes ago.â
âThereâs a number of reasons, but not everybody that supports a motion supports it for the same reasons.â
Paul Kostyu, chair of the journalism department and associate professor of journalism at OWU, opposed the motion.
âI had a lot more questions and I wasn’t allowed to ask them,â Kostyu said. âI would not call it a debate. It was a series of questions and statements from various faculty.â
Thomas Wolber, chair of the Executive Committee and associate professor of modern foreign language, said he agreed with Kostyu.
âKostyu was the first one to stand up and ask a number of questions. which were not satisfactorily answered,â Wolber said.
He also said there was inadequate discussion during the meeting.
âI was not given a chance to speak and to voice my opinion,â Wolber said. âThe discussion was truncated and that I found unfortunate.â
Kostyu also said he believes OWU is being ironic.
âNationally, there is more of effort in higher education to be more transparent. Itâs ironic weâre going the other direction.â
âWe are restricting freedom,â Kostyu said. âItâs ironic and hypocritical that our speaker for commencement is Greg Moore, who opposed this policy. But yet, weâre inviting him, who may have actually covered these meetings as a student.â
Moore is the former editor of The Denver Post and a 1976 graduate of OWU. He will speak at commencement this year on May 8.
Previously, The Transcript was denied access to a faculty meeting on Nov. 16, 2015.
  Shaka Senghor. Photo courtesy of livingcivil.com.
Liz Hardaway, Transcript Reporter
Itâs the 90s, the era of Walkmans and hammer pants. A 19-year-old honor student from East Detroit was just sentenced to 17-40 years in prison for murdering a man in an argument over a drug deal.
Shaka Senghor had âassumedâ that his life was over.
After serving 19 years in prison, Senghor is now a New York Times best-selling author, with six books under his belt, including his latest âWriting My Wrongs.â Senghor has appeared on âSuper Soul Sundayâ and led three TED talks.
Senghor brought his story to the Benes Room in Ham-Will on March 30, pointing out the flaws of the modern prison system in the U.S.
âWe live in a society that is very slow to think about what it means to give second chances,â Senghor said.
With more money being poured into prison upkeep rather than the education system, and the U.S. containing 25 percent of the total worldâs prison population with a 70 percent return rate after release, Senghor challenged attendees to pay attention to the tax investment Americans make on their prison system.
âIf you treat a person barbaric, animalistic, abuse them, degrade them and dehumanize them, the logical outcome is that they are going to get out and do the same to someone else,â Senghor said.
Senghor ran away from his abusive mother when he was 14. As a young honor roll student, he said he hoped that someone would see the smart kid that he was. Soon, a local drug dealer approached Senghor and introduced him to the world of dealing crack cocaine.
âI was way in over my head ⊠Within the first six months, my childhood friend was murdered, my older brother was stabbed, I was robbed at gunpoint, and then I was beat nearly to death and left on a cold bathroom floor ⊠thinking to myself where is my mother, where is my father, and how could somebody allow their child to be gone for so long and not seek them out,â Senghor said.
After getting shot, Senghor started carrying a pistol, determined that the next time he got into a conflict, he would not hesitate to pull the trigger.
On March 8, 1990 the opportunity arose when Senghor refused to sell crack to a stranger. When the argument escalated Senghor shot and killed the man.
After the first five years Senghor was in prison, he had accumulated 25 misconducts and was placed in a maximum-security prison.
Surrounded by inmates who were for the most part serving life sentences, Senghor said he found brilliant life mentors who gave him books and encouraged him to keep learning.
With the high rate of mental illness, minimal recreational hours and seven years of solitary confinement, Senghor attributes his success and sanity in prison to these men.
Senghor wrote his first book in 30 days in solitary confinement, and used a fish line of underwear and socks to send it over to the inmate across the hall to read. After receiving copious amounts of praise for this book, he challenged himself to write his second book in 30 days as well.
Upon realizing his dream to become a writer, Senghor was depressed as he wrote his third book. His freedom was even more important if he wanted to make his dream a reality.
After Senghor got out of solitary confinement, he found a word processor and would type his first four books 13 pages at a time.
These books were published while Senghor was still in prison, but after three parole hearings, Senghor was released on June 22, 2010. Upon leaving, a guard told Senghor that he would be back.
âThere are families being broken ⊠there are human beings that are being thrown away that have real value ⊠if we give them a chance,â said Senghor.
Black Men of the Future (BMF) organized the event, and even made Senghor an honorary member of the organization.
âOur goal is to raise awareness and begin harder conversations that a lot of people are afraid to have,â said senior Aaron Cameron, vice president of BMF.
     Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house located on Williams Drive. Photo courtesy of owu.edu.
Transcript Staff
As of April 13, Phi Kappa Psi (Phi Psi) fraternity no longer has a chapter on Ohio Wesleyanâs campus, according to Kurt Holmes, interim vice president for student affairs and dean of students.
âFollowing a thorough investigation and hearing, the Student Conduct Board has ruled that Ohio Wesleyanâs Phi Kappa Psi chapter violated significant university rules, and after a careful consideration of these violations and the chapterâs conduct history, we have notified Phi Kappa Psi members that the chapter is being closed,â Holmes said in an April 13 email to the OWU community. Â Â
Members of Phi Psi will remain in their house until the end of the spring semester, but are working with residential life to coordinate housing for next semester.
Earlier this year, a new pledge of the fraternity, freshman Luke Gabbert was found dead in the Delaware run, a creek close to campus.
Holmes said the review [by the conduct board] on a specific charge is only the current [Gabbert] case. “We do take recent history into account.” He also said a response from the fraternity’s nationals is anticipated, but  has not been received.
President Rock Jones said, “We set high expectations for our campus community, including student organizations. It is our responsibility to hold organizations accountable when they fail to meet expectations, including the conduct guidelines spelled out in our Student Handbook.”
Susie Long, the interim director of Greek Life, said she currently has nothing to add to the statement Holmes made.
Doug Dodridge, president of the fraternity, declined to comment.
Phi Psi can either appeal the ruling or, according to Chief Communications Officer Will Kopp, request to be reinstated on campus. The request can be filed no sooner than fall of 2020.
On Nov. 11, 2015, Sigma Chi fraternity also was disbanded. But in his email announcement, Holmes said the university remains supportive of Greek Life on OWUâs campus for its positive development of leadership skills, philanthropic efforts as well as its significant alumni support.
The Ohio Alpha chapter of Phi Psi was founded at OWU in 1861. Â
*This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
In a partnership with Stratford Ecological Center, Ohio Wesleyan Universityâs Monnett Garden will get a honey producing and observation apiary on April 22 for students of all majors to use.
The apiary is financed by an approximately $1,000 Theory-to-Practice grant written by junior zoology and nonfiction writing double major Meg Deeter. The grant Deeter received will cover the costs of beekeeping equipment and a stipend for a current lecture series about beekeeping by Stratford apiarist Dave Noble.
Nobleâs last two lectures have been about the pollination industry and the honey bee genus Apis, respectively. Stratford will be providing the hives for no charge and will act as the main apiary caretaker and owner. âItâs a growing trend for campuses to have apiaries, and I wanted to bring that here,â Deeter said.
âIâm hoping for a foundation for students like me. Iâm not the first and I wonât be the last. I want it to be something that stays when Iâm gone.â âMy main goal is to have a hands-on experience for parasitology and entomology students,â Deeter said.
Deeter said the apiary would still be open to students of any major. âI emphasized in my grant that this project would be interdisciplinary,â she said. âI donât like the sciences and the arts being separated.â
Deeter said she was inspired to start the apiary over the summer while interning at a fish and wildlife center and watching her boss breed honeybees. While staying late in parasitology lab last semester, Deeter also overheard OWU professor of zoology Ramon A. Carreno mention wanting an observation hive.
âI also want an outreach for kids. Dave Noble helps with OWjL (Ohio Wesleyan Junior League)Â and wants to bring kids here to campus to study our apiary,â Deeter said.
Nobleâs focus is getting young people interested in bees. âI came to bees when I was in college. My mentors started keeping bees when they were eight,â he said. â10,000 kids on average come to Stratford every year on field trips. I get to interact with all of them,â Noble said.
Like Deeter, Noble said he also wants science, humanities and social science college students to get involved. âIâm a huge proponent of the liberal arts because you have a specific major but get exposed to all these other things to create a wide foundation for life,â Noble said.
Nobleâs next lecture is on March 28 and will be about threats to honeybees. The series continues with an April 11 lecture on honey bee genetics and an April 18 lecture on how to not get stung.
All lectures will take place at noon in Schimmel-Conrades Science Center room 163.
Luke Gabbert. Photo courtesy of battlingbishops.com
Transcript Staff
An injury in the upper cervical spine from falling in the Delaware Run Creek and hypothermia caused freshman Luke Gabbert’s death on Feb. 6, according to the autopsy report by Delaware County Coroner’s office, released on April 8.Â
Gabbert was found in the creek, south of 28 Franklin St., on the morning of Feb. 7 and was pronounced dead at 10:40 a.m. that morning.
Alcohol at the level of 0.21 percent was detected, which is nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08.
“We know that Mr. Gabbert was consuming alcohol on campus,â said Capt. Adam Moore of the Delaware Police Department. âWe cannot get into any specifics at this point since no charges have been filed.â
Dr. Mark Hickman, Delaware County coroner, said, “There was damage to Gabbert’s neck as a result of the spinal trauma. It is unclear as to what the primary cause of death was.”
There was also evidence of hypothermia. “[Hypothermia] doesn’t take too long if someone is in cold water,” Hickman said.
Based on the timeline of events, Hickman said, Gabbert died sometime after 2:30 a.m. on Feb. 7.
According to Moore, a report from the investigation is now being transferred to the Delaware County Prosecutor’s Office. Since the incident involved an underage victim, the prosecutor’s office will inspect circumstances surrounding alcohol usage, he said.
The prosecutor’s role, Moore said, is to make recommendations on whether or not to make charges and who to charge. “Some type of criminal violation has occurred, involving specific individuals or organizations,” Â he said.Â
There was no evidence of any illicit drugs beside the prescription medicines Gabbert was taking, said Hickman.Â
“There was no indication of foul play and no external injury found,” said Hickman. “I think it was a tragic accident.”
According to Hickman, Gabbert was wearing a dress shirt, tie and khakis, but no jacket or coat, at the time of his death. His wallet containing his I.D. and some cash was also found in his pocket. Â
*This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Juan Armando Rojas, associate professor of Modern Foreign Languages has been appointed as the universityâs first Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion.
Provost Chuck Stinemetz in an email to all employees said, âDr. Rojas has considerable leadership experience as chair of the Modern Foreign Language Department, and has actively participated in a variety of internal and external initiatives that promote diversity and inclusion on college campuses.â
Rojas said, âIâm looking forward to provide leadership on diversity-related issues in the academic area. Iâm excited about working with faculty to encourage the development of curriculum and pedagogies that continue to engage increasingly more diverse student populations.â
Rojas is also the director of Ohio Wesleyanâs study abroad program at University of Salamanca, Spain.
Stinemetz said, âHis (Rojasâ) energy and passion for increasing the campus appreciation and commitment to diversity will greatly benefit current and future Ohio Wesleyan students.â
âEquity, diversity and inclusion are my goals,â said Rojas. âI have high expectations to bring possibilities and support underrepresented students accomplish their personal and academic goals and help them see the life-long transferable skills that quality higher education provides.â
When the Taliban launched the 9/11 attacks, the United Statesâ main goal at the time was to eliminate al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden.
This tunnel vision prevented the recognition of an even more extremist jihadi group expanding in the shadows.
âWe have just decided to go beyond crimes against humanity and label ISIS as genocidal,â said Michael Houlahan, a retired foreign services officer and the final lecturer at the Great Decisions lecture series held on March 18 in William Street United Methodist Church.
More than 75 community members gathered to discuss the origins and dynamics of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), with many wondering what the U.S. plans on doing to stop the violent group.
Houlahan emphasized that Arab countries need to put Muslim Arab troops on the ground, but if the U.S. pulled out altogether, ISIS could run rampant.
âThereâs no clear road to ⊠protect the country,â he said. âIt is a patchwork.â
Due to the unsuccessful efforts of the Arab Spring (democratic uprisings that took place in several Arab nations in 2011), the appeal to join ISIS has grown.
Many longtime rulers were removed from power, such as leaders in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Yemen, and citizens were hoping this would lead to improvement.
As time passed and violence increased, however, citizens have become increasingly drawn to the idealistic Islamic State that ISIS promises them.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi formed the first of many militant groups called Army of al-Sham in the late 1980s under the vision that ISIS has today, according to Houlahan.
The group was disbanded and Zarqawi was imprisoned in 1992, where he began attracting and leading other inmates.
When Zarqawi was pardoned, he came into contact with al-Qaida, which was initially wary and distrustful of Zarqawi. But the two cooperated so Zarqawi could form a training camp in Afghanistan to recruit new members.
Upon establishing a second group, Zarqawi ordered the bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad as well as a dual car bombing outside of the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, one of the holiest sites in Shia Islam, sparking a civil war between the countryâs Shia and Sunni populations.
Zarqawi was killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2006, but his vision remained very much alive, Houlahan said. As the new commander, Abu Omar al-Baghdadi announced the establishment of an Islamic State.
Followers wanted to establish the state because they believed the apocalypse was imminent, but both Baghdadi and his head of state Hamid al-Zawi were killed in 2010.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who claims to be a direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad became the new head of the Islamic State and continues to lead ISIS today.
âIt is true that we have to finish off ISIS,â said Hatim Taj, a Shiite man who attended the lecture. âThey wonât listen ⊠but after that ⊠you have to find people who are willing to sit down and have a political discussion or it will just get worse.â
An Ohio Wesleyan chemistry professor has accepted a job at the Ohio State University where he will serve as an assistant professor focusing on antimicrobial drug discovery.
Mark Mitton-Fry has taught several chemistry classes and labs at OWU for the past four years. After this semester, he will work in the division of medicinal chemistry and pharmacognosy at OSUâs College of Pharmacy.
Mitton-Fryâs new position will be much more heavily focused on research with collaborators from the College of Pharmacy, the College of Medicine and elsewhere at OSU.
âI will supervise graduate students pursuing their Ph.D.s, and I will also likely hire postdoctoral researchers for my group,â Mitton-Fry said. âBuilding a team with diverse expertise will give us the opportunity to investigate complex but critically important problems in infectious disease.â
Mitton-Fry said he is thrilled about the opportunity to lead a research program in the area of infectious disease and is excited about the new challenges.
Before starting his academic career, he worked as a medicinal chemist in the pharmaceutical industry, with a portion of his career being devoted to antibacterial research.
âMultidrug-resistant bacterial infections constitute a significant threat to human health, and this position will hopefully give me an opportunity to have an impact on that problem,â Mitton-Fry said. âThe process of trying to invent new medicines is an exhilarating one, and I look forward to the dynamic research environment at Ohio State.â
Junior Rebecca Manning, who is a chemistry and biology double major, said she is sad to see him go and that he will be missed by many.
âDr. Mitton-Fry is so kind and helpful,â Manning said. âI have learned a great deal from him during my time here at OWU. He is an exemplary mentor and professor. He is known for his many achievements and will continue to achieve greatness wherever he goes.â
Mitton-Fry added, âI have loved my time at Ohio Wesleyan, and I will certainly miss my students. My colleagues in the chemistry department have been very supportive during my time here, and they have been excellent mentors. I will miss seeing them everyday.â
Some of his students from his very first class at OWU (Chem 110 in Fall 2012) are graduating this May and he looks forward to celebrating their accomplishments with them.
Amy Butcher, assistant professor of English at Ohio Wesleyan, uncovered the difficulty of assigning an emoji via text message to her friend in her most recently published article in The New York Times.
The article, âEmoji Feminism,â does not only showcase the arduous task of deciding what emoji to give her friend, but how the options of emojis for women are limited.
Within the article, Butcher writes that there are in fact emojis for women, but not any for women âengaged in activity or a profession.”
âThere [are] only archetypes: the flamenco dancer in her red gown, the bride in her flowing veil, the princess in her gold tiara,â Butcher wrote. âThere was a set of ballet dancers complete with bunny ears and black leotards, their smiles indicating that, gosh, they were so grateful to God and everyone, really, for this opportunity to pose for Playboy.â
Butcher was looking for empowering depictions of women to assign to her friend.
âWhere was the fierce professor working her way to tenure?â Butcher wrote. âWhere was the lawyer? The accountant? The surgeon?â
âHow was there space for both a bento box and a single fried coconut shrimp, and yet women were restricted to a smattering of tired, beauty-centric roles?â
Image courtesy of emojibase.com
When unable to find exactly what they were looking for, Butcher and her friend decided on a penguin.
The anonymous friend of Butcher featured in the article is Ellen Arnold, an associate professor of history at OWU.
âI was proud to have been part of the genesis of this article, although it was a bit odd to be featured (anonymously) in such a major news source,â Arnold said. âOne thing that I love about the article, though I’m anonymous, [is that] Amy did a really nice âcapsuleâ version of me.â
âWhat I enjoyed most was going on Twitter after the article was published and seeing happy and congratulatory penguins everywhere. It shows how much Amy’s voice and concerns resonated.â
Butcher said she truly enjoyed writing the article that raised the question of why there is imminent disparity between men and women, even on the âsmall screen.â
âI really love comedic writing, and certainly the subject of women in academia,â Butcher said. âThe place of professional women within our culture more generally is of great personal interest to me.â
Butcher had both supportive and dismissive responses to her essay in the comments section of the publication.
âAlthough I had great support from male friends and colleagues, a lot of male commenters predictably complained about the trivialness of the issue, minimizing the larger argument altogether,â Butcher said.
âSome even argued that an adult and professor of English shouldnât be using emojis in the first place, but I find that argument boring, agist and classist.â
Butcher explained that getting written work into The New York Times is not easy.
âMy submission went through what we call the âslush pile,â which is the default email address where thousands of pieces are sent monthly,â Butcher said. âMost often, submissions sent in this way are rejected, but this piece was different.â
The opinion page editor liked Butcherâs article and reached out to her the day after her submission to accept the piece.
âThe editor really enjoyed my work and sense of humor and has invited me to send new work to her as I write it,â Butcher said. âI have two pieces Iâm in the process of drafting for her, and Iâll send them to her in time, but I have no idea if these new essays will be of any interest to her or not.â
Butcher said that those who are not official writers for the publication do not get re-published for another 3 months. As a professor, that time span is somewhat beneficial.
Butcher has taken after her mentor, John DâAgata, when it comes to being a professor and a writer.
â[He considers] himself exclusively a teacher from September to May and exclusively a writer in the months in-between,â Butcher said.
Being a professor requires a lot of commitment inside and outside of the classroom, which Butcher finds makes it hard to write during the academic year.
âNot only lesson planning, reading and grading, but writing letters of recommendation for past and current students,â Butcher added. âAnd helping students secure internships and polish off graduate school applications, serving on campus committees, attending readings and plays and recitals, and moreover, just being a helpful presence in a studentâs life.â
Senior Adelle Brodbeck, who is currently taking Butcherâs magazine writing class, said itâs great having her as a professor.
âIt is so refreshing to have an educator that is close to college age,â Brodbeck said. âIt’s much easier to relate to her. Also, it’s nice to have a female professor for once. Out of my four years, the vast majority of my classes have been taught by men.â
Brodbeck enjoyed reading âEmoji Feminism,â as well.
âI thought it was light-hearted and fun, but also had an important message,â Brodbeck said. âIn this new age of communication, what are the ways in which we can support each other? Especially how can we support and empower women when the majority of today’s tools are created to favor men.â
As Butcher addresses in her article, sexism has long existed before emojis.
âEmoji diversity is a very small issue plaguing women and our culture more generally,â Butcher said. âBut it’s representative of an overwhelming cultural and daily accumulation of grievances.â
âEmojis are the least of it.â
To read Butcher’s piece in The New York Times click here.
Dale J. Brugh, professor of Chemistry has been appointed as the universityâs first Associate Dean of Innovation.
According to a press release sent by Cole Hatcher, director of media and community relations, “Brugh will research and evaluate the impact of potential new academic programs, advise the university on ways to streamline academic policies and practices, promote the use of new time-saving technologies, and contribute to institutional research.”
Provost Chuck Stinemetz in his message to the campus said, âDale brings a unique combination of creativity, reasoning, and experience to the position. His recent work as chair of the Faculty Personnel Committee also highlights his ability to both implement policy revision and apply technology to allow for more efficient processes.â
Brugh said, âI look forward to helping faculty translate their ideas into changes that make Ohio Wesleyan University better able to serve current and future students,â according to the press release.
