XC Team Rebuttal Letter to the Editor

BTW: All of these "rebuttals" are to the Post editorial

Cross country team speaks up about administration’s sports cuts

Published Thursday, September 27, 2007.

Ignorance. Naivety. Robotic. Unprofessional. Those are just a few words that come to mind after reading Tuesday’s editorial in The Post. One of the golden rules of journalism is to report the entire story. However, over the past eight months, The Post and its writers have repeatedly been nothing but a voice/puppet for the administration. Where has investigative journalism gone? You would think that the students who are being educated at a school so well-respected for its journalism program would have the urge to question some of the decisions made by the Ohio University administration. Keep in mind that this is the same administration that employed someone responsible for embezzling $31,000 while simultaneously explaining OU’s budgetary problems to its athletes. Instead, The Post, much like the administration, would rather sweep the whole ordeal under the proverbial rug and act as though it never happened.

Not only have The Post writers merely reported the “facts” given to them by the administration, but they, along with the suits in the Convo, have failed to grasp the intricacies of how the cuts would affect those athletes who still remain here; that is something that we runners have grown accustomed to. We were told that our experience would improve, but we continue to wonder when we will be treated like real Division I athletes.

Too many people have claimed that they understand the reasons behind the decisions made, but in reality they know very little. In light of this, what gives The Post the right to tell us when to end our fight or when to tell us to stop being bitter?
The OCR’s (Office for Civil Rights) initial finding does not put a close to this issue. Appeals will be filed and new information that has been discovered since the initial complaint was filed will be unveiled. There is also an ongoing investigation that OU did violate Title IX and discriminated against women; that OCR complaint is still open.

This is an issue that we will not let die. You will continue to see us around campus wearing our t-shirts, and we will continue to fight to get our track team back. The mentality of a distance runner is unwavering and undeterred by small setbacks; we never give up. Our efforts to reinstate the men’s program will continue long after Mr. McDavis and Mr. Hocutt have left Ohio; we just hope that is sooner rather than later.

Trials of Miles, Miles of Trials.