Ohio University's bicentennial is a newsworthy event across the state. TV stations in Cincinnati and Columbus broadcast interviews focused on the 200th year celebration year with the opening of fall quarter. The University will mark its official bicentennial on Founders Day Feb. 18, 2004.

The TV news journalists who conducted the interviews, Sheila (Slyh) Gray of WXIX in Cincinnati and Marshall McPeek of WCMH in Columbus, are both Ohio University graduates. Gray interviewed President Robert Glidden on the College Green, and McPeek talked with Associate Vice President for University Communications and Marketing Hub Burton. The University's satellite uplink truck facilitated the long-distance live interviews.

"News about Ohio University is significant to our viewers when you consider that Hamilton County has nearly 1,000 students at Ohio University this fall, and nearly 3,500 Ohio University alums live in Hamilton County," Gray said. "The University is always a very important of Ohio history as both the university and the buckeye state celebrate their bicentennials. It made me a little homesick for Athens when I saw Dr. Glidden sitting on College Green, in front of Cutler Hall. Although College Green looks the same as when I first set foot on it in 1983, Ohio University has certainly changed a lot since I was studying there. Ohio University has been able to accomplish much during a time when the higher education faces so many challenges, particularly the ongoing cuts in funding."

"I never would have dreamed when I was at Ohio University that I would have the opportunity to interview the University's president and even host a fundraiser alongside him. Dr. Glidden's enthusiasm is infectious, and I'm always happy when I can share some of that enthusiasm with my viewers in and around Cincinnati, because what I learned and experienced at Ohio University is a big part of what I do each day," Gray said.