UNIVERSITY
will launch a nationwide search to fill the position, he said.
“We again need to be a national leader in the area, as we were in 1824, when we admitted the first AfricanAmerican student to Ohio University nearly 40 years before the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation,” Nellis said.
Ohio University also has a responsibility and opportunity to make a difference in the region it calls home, Nellis said, announcing plans for a new engagement office.
“Ohio University’s geographic location at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains is distinct compared to other colleges and universities in the country,” Nellis said. “I believe we can be a model in our nation in this area, a positive catalyst of economic and quality-of-life change for Appalachia.”
Nellis' goals were music to junior Hannah Burke’s ears.
“I really liked how he talked about sustainability, being globally minded and thinking about diversity and inclusion,” said the political-science major from the Cleveland area. “Those are all really important things to me, so it was good to hear it from our president, too.”
Nellis said he also wants to develop a sustainable and expanded university-wide honors program to attract the best and brightest students; better leverage the school's alumni network; and rebrand and find better ways to market the university to the rest of the world.
Ohio University also should be known as a place of free expression and rigorous debate, Nellis said, adding that he will work to establish a campus-wide lecture series centered on difficult dialogue.
Nellis takes the helm as free speech has been in the spotlight at college campuses nationwide, most recently over white nationalist Richard Spencer's demands to speak at the University of Florida (an appearance is scheduled for Thursday), the University of Cincinnati (now working on a date in November or December), and Ohio State University, which has until 5 p.m. Friday to offer a location on campus or risk a lawsuit.
In February, about 70 Ohio University students were arrested when they refused to leave a sit-in on campus protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
In this school year, the campus community is at odds over a new “freedom of expression” policy the university introduced as a way to promote the exchange of ideas while ensuring campus safety. Some are unhappy that the policy bans some protests in university spaces.
“I strongly support free speech on campuses across our nation, of course. That’s what we do at public universities in the United States,” Nellis told The Dispatch, speaking in general and not about the Spencer situation. “I also recognize that dynamic of free speech creates potential for conflict.”
OU Student Senate President Landen Lama has been encouraged by Nellis’ willingness to listen to students and
faculty and staff members.
“He has a very good understanding of shared governance and how he needs to be a good leader,” Lama said.
Nellis takes over as funding for public universities in Ohio and nationwide continues to ebb.
“That challenges us to not only look for efficiencies, but in some ways, to reinvent ourselves,” Nellis said. “The challenge around (the) budget is certainly something that we recognize. It’s a difficult time, but I think it’s going to be important for Ohio University to be a leader, and really communicating the value-added dimension of our university to our region, our state, the nation and the world."
Nellis has agreed to a sixyear term with an initial base salary of $475,000. He and his wife, Ruthie, received a $5,000 monthly housing allowance and have bought a home in Athens that is about a sevenminute drive from campus, he said.
Some people have criticized the university’s decision to lease a $1.2 million home for its previous president, Roderick J. McDavis, and his wife, after they complained of a bat infestation at OU’s traditional president’s residence.
McDavis stepped down in February, more than four months ahead of his planned retirement, to take a job for a consulting company that helps universities, boards and foundations find executives.