February 12, 2016 | The Miami Student

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ESTABLISHED 1826 – OLDEST COLLEGE NEWSPAPER WEST OF THE ALLEGHENIES

The Miami Student FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016 Volume 144 №32

Miami University — Oxford, Ohio

MIAMISTUDENT.NET

Prospective As presidential search comes to close, president earns many reflect on problems with process high praise PRESIDENT

EMILY TATE

MANAGING EDITOR

REIS THEBAULT

PRESIDENT

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MEGAN ZAHNEIS

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Gregory P. Crawford’s friends and colleagues say he’s energetic, innovative and ambitious. He stood out as an administrator and professor at the University of Notre Dame and, before that, at Brown University. Now he’s returning to his home state of Ohio to be Miami University’s next president. The Board of Trustees announced Thursday morning that Crawford had been named as the finalist to succeed current president David Hodge. Crawford comes to Miami from Notre Dame, where he most recently served as Professor of Physics and Vice President and Associate Provost. Prior to

Hodge announces retirement May 2015

UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS

Gregory Crawford is Miami’s presidential finalist.

arriving at Notre Dame in 2008, Crawford was dean of engineering at Brown University. Crawford, 50, has his roots in Ohio. A native of Elyria, near Cleveland, he holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from Kent State University in physics. He completed FINALIST »PAGE 8

Isaacson, Miller hired for search

July 2015

Presidential search begins August 2015

LGBTQ ‘Mergers’ recall how they met their valentines LOVE

TESS SOHNGEN

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Meg Sullivan and Robyn Bockrath will receive their first Miami Merger Valentine’s Day card this year. The two were married June 5, 2015 in Chicago by a mutual friend, Lyndsey, who introduced them 10 years ago at Miami University. Lyndsey knew that her lifelong friend Robyn would be instant friends with her sorority sister, Meg Sullivan. She was right. “We took an ice-skating class my junior year,” said Robyn. “That’s when we got to know each other a little better.” Both had boyfriends at the time, and despite being open to the idea of dating a girl, neither identified as lesbian or bisexual until after college. Robyn came to Miami from a small Ohio town and Meg from an Irish-Catholic upbringing, where people who identified as LGBT were not common. Even at Miami, Robyn said she knew only one or two gay students. “I feel like, back then, it was rare for us to really know anyone who was outout,” said Robyn. “It just

Yesterday, in all likelihood, marked the end of a six-month, nationwide search for Miami’s next president — a search conducted in secret and mired in controversy. Gregory Crawford, provost at the University of Notre Dame, is the “finalist” for the job, but it’s not the person that has the university up in arms, it’s the process. “One ‘finalist?’” said Cathy Wagner, exasperated. “I wish that was a joke, because it’s not very funny. Secret nominations … really? An appointed, anointed leader?” Wagner is the vice president of Miami’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), a faculty advocacy organization, and is a professor of English.

wasn’t on our radar at the time. If I wanted to date a girl at Miami, I wouldn’t know where to go.” “It’s hard to know why it was that way at Miami,” said Robyn of the time she spent at Miami but did not yet know she identified as lesbian. A few years after graduation, Robyn reconnected with Meg in a reunion with college friends, and they realized they liked each other more than friends. Fourteen percent of Miami alumni marry another alumn, earning these couples the nickname “Miami Merger.” Meg (’06) and Robyn (’07) have now joined the 14,262 Miami Mergers and will receive one of the 13,658 valentines mailed from the Miami University Alumni Association (MUAA) this year. While Miami has been sending Valentine’s Day cards to LGBT couples for several years, this is the first Valentine’s Day since the Supreme Court decision to legalize marriage last summer. They also received a Miami Merger cake kit for their rehearsal dinner from VALENTINES »PAGE 9

CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTO EDITOR

Presidential residence Lewis Place will have new inhabitants next fall when Gregory Crawford, the job’s only finalist, moves in with his family. She said the process was more reminiscent of a search for the CEO of a major corporation, not the president of a university. “And we’re not a corporation. We’re a public institution,” she said. Though Crawford will be visiting the Oxford and regional campuses next week

Trustees announce search to be secret September 2015

Search committee announced October 2015

to meet with students, faculty and others in the community, Frank LoMonte, president of the Student Press Law Center, says that the visit is little more than a formality. “Clearly, when you have a finalist of one, they’re telling you a decision has been made,” LaMonte said. “It’s a done deal.”

Feb. 11

Dutch student vlogs about Miami experience PEOPLE

MARY SCHROTT

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

With two large suitcases in hand, Noortje Wijckmans exited the CVG airport into a dark and cold January night. As she waited on the curb for a shuttle, she set down her luggage and reached for a very important carry-on item: her Sony Alpha A5000 camera. She opened the device and turned it inward to capture the shivering and excited reflection of herself and began talk-

ing to it about her journey. Wijckmans is an international student from the Netherlands who arrived in Ohio last month. She is spending her spring semester at Miami, and, in the meantime, vlogging about her experience in the United States. A vlog is like a video diary where people share their experiences, ideas and interests with the online world on platforms like YouTube. Wijckmans started vlogging around Christmas in 2015 in anticipation for her trip to the United States. As a

SEARCH »PAGE 9

Crawford announced as sole finalist

Position profile released online October 2015

There were three groups behind that decision: Miami’s Board of Trustees; the Presidential Search Committee; and executive search firm Isaacson, Miller. The search committee was comprised of nine individuals, including a student, three

fan of several YouTube vloggers herself, she was inspired to create her own page and thought it would be a good way to remember her semester. Each one of her videos features herself-a tall 21-year-old with rosy eyeshadow, long auburn hair, freckles and impeccably precise eyebrows. She speaks to the camera about her life in English with a light Dutch accent and shows her viewer everything she sees as light soundtrack plays in the VLOGGER »PAGE 5

CONNOR MORIARTY PHOTO EDITOR

An exchange student from the Netherlands, Noortje Wijckmans shares her day-to-day experiences at Miami with followers on YouTube via video posts called “vlogs.”

Open forums to be held for Crawford Feb. 15-17

Snapshots of seniors in their final semester PEOPLE

BONNIE MEIBERS

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

This is the first installment of a three part series. As graduation approaches and seniors’ college years come to an end, many look to the journey ahead and many reflect on the years at Miami that are now behind them. Senior Jackie Jeambey rises most mornings at 5:30. She pours herself some coffee and reads the news. She then makes her 25-minute commute. Jeambey is currently student teaching eighth graders at a local middle school. “They’re very squirrelly,” she said. Jeambey is also waiting to hear back from the Fulbright Student Program — a program of merit-based grants that sends students and other scholars to countries around the world to teach or conduct research. Jeambey found out in January that she was a semifinalist for the program. If all goes as planned, she will go to Bulgaria for nine SENIORS »PAGE 8

NEWS p. 2

NEWS p. 3

CULTURE p. 4

OPINION p. 6

SPORTS p. 10

AAUP FACULTY SURVEY RESULTS VOICE CONCERN

OXFORD MOVES FORWARD WITH NEW BIKE TRAIL

DEFINING COMEDY AND DRAMA IN ENTERTAINMENT

BOARD STRUGGLES WITH SECRET SEARCH

HOCKEY TEAM GOES ON THE ROAD

Faculty members speak out about experiences; administration reacts

The trail could open as soon as June, just in time for summer cycling events.

Writer reflects on the difference between the biggest distinction of awards season.

Editors reflect on yesterday’s announcement regarding the presidential finalist.

The RedHawks take on Bowling Green in a single game tonight.


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February 12, 2016 | The Miami Student by The Miami Student - Issuu