Tradition takes on a new look
By Robert Glidden

Tradition. All of us in the Ohio University family have a special understanding of that word.

We are proud of our history that dates to Ohio's earliest days of statehood. We cherish the sentiments expressed at the gates that border our College Green. We maintain, despite years and distance, the friendships that we formed and nurtured in Athens.

As you read these words, you are holding on to another Ohio University tradition, one whose roots wind back more than 75 years.

In 1923, Ohio Alumnus magazine was introduced to keep alumni and friends in touch with their campus. Later, magazines, newsletters and, most recently, the tabloid Ohio University Today served as links between the university and its worldwide family.

In that same tradition, Ohio Today will carry the stories of Ohio University - and those of its students, staff and alumni - into the 21st century. On its pages you will find news about your university: its initiatives, achievements, research, culture and much more. You will learn of the activities of fellow alumni and how you can keep in touch with old friends. You will become aware of the many ways you still can make a difference on campus.

Among the most important stories we will share are those that involve the people who have taken Ohio University into their hearts and their homes. And we couldn't have found five more perfect examples of such commitment than the families profiled in this issue's cover story. As the introduction on Page 10 points out, these are the universityís historians.

Folks such as Delbert Phillips, who missed his own graduation in 1933 when his Model A Ford broke down. Sixty-three years later, he watched his grandchildren Matt and Stephanie Phillips accept their degrees.

Or the Wagner siblings, seven of whom - like their father - earned Ohio University degrees, six from the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
And while tradition and sentiment have helped draw generation after generation of these families to Athens, their loyalty would have waned long ago had it not been for your university's commitment to educational excellence.

Just as the Northwest Territory's settlers mapped out a future for Ohio University in the early 1800s, today's students, faculty, staff and, in many cases, alumni are pioneering exciting and imaginative approaches to learning. A prime example is the endeavor - the first of its kind in Ohio and among the first in the nation - that placed a new computer in every freshman residence hall room by the start of this academic year and will equip all university residence hall rooms with computers by fall 2000.

We will bring you these stories - from fond memories of college days to the innovations that are so much a part of today's Ohio University education - in each issue of Ohio Today. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy the tradition.