An extraordinary commitment
By Ralph Amos

When Ohio Today Editor Mary Alice Casey told me the story of Chip Thayer, I knew I had to share it. Because Chip is a hero. His commitment to Ohio University and his determination to relive one of the most profound experiences of his life are remarkable.

In this issue, you have read much about the University’s Bicentennial Campaign, an ambitious and very necessary fund-raising endeavor. Yet, as you know, there are all kinds of ways to give back to your alma mater. With your checkbook. With your time. With your talent. And, like Chip Thayer has, with your heart.

In the future, I plan to share with you many examples of Ohio University alumni who are giving back in ways that can change lives and ensure that this great institution of higher education exists in perpetuity.

Mary Alice caught up with Chip at Homecoming’s alumni band reunion. Here’s his story:

Rick Fatica

Chip Thayer fulfills his quest to perform with the Marching 110’s alumni band at Homecoming 2000.

Chip Thayer was determined to make it back for Homecoming in October. He wanted to show his Fredericktown, Ohio, neighbors around campus, meet up with a few friends and, more than anything, take the field with the Marching 110 at halftime.

Well, he made it. And in the process he inspired many of us who heard his story.

Chip graduated in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in music education. A three-year band member, he played the timbales, a kind of drum, and led the percussion section his senior year. Anyone who’s witnessed the Marching 110’s wonderful music and demanding dance moves realizes that’s no small accomplishment. But what few of Chip’s friends and professors knew at the time was that he had spina bifida, a congenital disease characterized by incomplete closure of the spine.

Chip didn’t let his ailment hold him back as an undergraduate. And the former band director and middle school principal didn’t let it keep him from a 24-year career in public education. So he surely wasn’t going to let it stand in the way of a Homecoming 2000 appearance with the Marching 110 and his fellow alumni.

“I must do this one more time,” he wrote to Pete Couladis, president of the band’s Society of Alumni and Friends, before Homecoming. “I want to feel the pride as we funk across Richland Avenue. I need to feel the anxiety building in the stadium as the 110 takes its place on the sidelines and the percussion section takes its place under the goalposts. I need to feel the wonder and emotion of the appreciative crowd as we pour out all we have to give the most exciting halftime show for our audience.”

His legs weakened by spina bifida, Chip is fighting hard to stay out of a wheelchair. To prepare for Homecoming — his first in 15 years — he walked a little longer and a little farther each day without a cane to build his endurance. His son, a high school band director, brought home a drum every afternoon so Chip could get used to the weight of it on his shoulders.

“At first I thought he was crazy,” his wife, Debbie, said as the couple ate lunch at the alumni band reunion before the football game. “But the closer and closer it got, the more excited he got.”

Rick Fatica

Chip Thayer visits with Professor of Music Guy Remonko, his former percussion teacher, before the alumni band’s Homecoming game performance.

Chip enjoyed seeing old friends, in particular Professor Guy Remonko, his percussion teacher and “a great man” he credits for helping to instill in him a drive for perfection. And he relished the chance to show his campus off to Dallas and Inge Popham, the neighbors who drove Debbie and him to Athens.

But as he expected, the day’s highlight came on the turf of Peden Stadium.

“It was everything I wanted it to be,” Chip said. “It was just a fantastic feeling. Your heart just soars in your throat.”

Chip is an amazingly determined individual. Yet he also is a realist.

“It may be my last time,” he acknowledged. “Things are digressing with my legs so much I’ll probably be in a wheelchair soon.”

“If not,” Debbie added, “we’ll be here next year.”

And that’s something we can all look forward to.

Ralph Amos is an assistant vice president and executive director of alumni relations for Ohio University.