Education, and Democracy On Campus

According to the Fair Election Center’s Campus Votes Project, young adults historically have voted at lower rates than older cohorts. Why? They face many obstacles to voting, including frequent address changes, confusing voter ID laws, and lack of transportation to polling locations, among other things. That’s why there are efforts at Otterbein to educate student voters about the voting process and to remove those obstacles that might prevent them from practicing their civic rights.

Peer-to-Peer Outreach

BY GRACE SIMS ’25 Sociology, Psychology, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies triple major; CardinalCorps Co-Leader of Raise Your Voice; and Democracy Fellow*

*Note: Democracy Fellows are selected by the Campus Vote Project of the Fair Elections Center. Democracy Fellows talk to their peers about registering to vote, educate them on election laws and what’s on the ballot, and make sure students at their campus are ready to engage with democracy. Fellows implement programs on each of their campuses that will remain long after they graduate and make an impact on students for years to come.

Civic engagement is not only our right as U.S. citizens, but also an essential component of our democratic process, and education is a crucial part of every person’s voting journey.

From local issues to state elections and, this year, the presidential election, voters will be presented with a lot of information in November. So it is essential that they submit their vote, confident that they understand their ballots. After all, our vote has a variety of real-world outcomes that impact everyone from college students to families and retirees.

These outcomes matter to young people, who have been making their voices heard in increasing numbers. Young voters had record turnout in the 2020 and 2022 elections and Otterbein students have been no different. In 2020, Otterbein students registered to vote and then voted at higher rates than the national average and at a higher percentage than previous classes at Otterbein. Raise Your Voice, Otterbein’s non-partisan, student-run, voter education group, hopes to continue this legacy and improve our registration rate and voting rate in 2024.

Raise Your Voice has hosted events throughout the semester including on national civic holidays such as National Voter Registration Day (Sept. 17), National Voter Education Week (Oct. 7-10), and Vote Early Day (Oct. 29) to bring students together to learn about and celebrate the voting process.

At past events, students have enjoyed casting a mock ballot with the Franklin County Board of Elections, Q&As with local politicians, and discussions with various community partners including the League of Women Voters and Rank The Vote.

As a Democracy Fellow and college student, I recognize the apathy and dispiritedness prevalent among my fellow college students when it comes to voting. It is vital for me to educate my peers on the importance of not only voting in November, but voting down the ballot in an educated, informed, and confident manner. You can see our action plans, awards, and voting achievements at allinchallenge.org/campuses/otterbein-university.

In the Classroom

BY LEESA J. KERN, PH.D. associate professor, Department of Sociology, Criminology and Justice Studies

Many students are like me when I was in college. Traveling home to vote was impossible. I didn’t know how absentee ballots worked. I didn’t know how to find useful information about candidates and issues — well before social media and the Internet. To combat this, in 2008 I approached a colleague in History and Political Science, and we developed a Senior Year Experience course, “High Stakes: The 2008 Presidential Election.”

This year’s election has already had its share of twists and turns, but in many ways the challenges facing new voters are similar to those in 2008. Today we have access to a great deal more information, but it is harder to know what is “good information.” Students can be wary of asking questions or sharing ideas in a climate where discussion can become divisive.

The goal of my class is to help students navigate:

• practical aspects of elections, like how to register to vote and where to go;
• informational aspects, including where to find information about candidates and issues, and what the “down ballot” races are;
• educational aspects, including what the electoral process is and how we get candidates; and increasingly
• the relational aspects, talking with people who disagree with you and understanding where your own viewpoints come from.

Civic engagement is not only our right as U.S. citizens, but also an essential component of our democratic process, and education is a crucial part of every person’s voting journey.

In class, we will learn together how to talk about poli tical issues with respect and compassion.

If I’ve done my job right, they won’t be able to tell which candidate I have voted for. (In years past, I’ve been really successful at that!)

My hope is that they take away a new appreciation for the importance of participatory democracy. I hope they understand how their education allowed them to cultivate the skills to collect, evaluate, and use information. And lastly, I hope they aspire to maintain respectful dialogue and participation in any political setting.

CELEBRATING 100 YEARS

The Evolution of Business, Accounting, and Economics

As one of the largest departments at Otterbein University, the Department of Business, Accounting, and Economics (BAE) has a rich history that spans over a century.

The first mention of a business-related department at Otterbein was in 1864, but it wasn’t until 1924 that the Department of Business Administration was established, initially focusing on business fundamentals. Since 1930, the department has undergone a significant evolution with a greater emphasis on economics. Under the leadership of Professor Horace W. Troop, Class of 1923, who served as chair from 1924-1952, the department’s name was changed to the Department of Economics and Business Administration in 1938, reflecting its expanding scope.

The department briefly merged with business education from 1952-1961, when it changed course under the leadership of Bert Glaze and became a pioneer among liberal arts colleges by revising its curriculum to include more mathematics. A statistics laboratory was established in 1965. In 1990, Young Koo and Gerald Brown led the work to rename it the Department of Business, Accounting, and Economics.

The curriculum has continued to evolve to meet the demands of an ever-changing business world, expanding across disciplines such as accounting, business administration and management, business analytics, economics, finance, and marketing.

Today, the BAE department remains a cornerstone of Otterbein’s academic landscape. Committed to its legacy of innovation and academic rigor, it continues to shape the future of business education and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs and business professionals as it enters its second century.

For a look back at a century of memories and photos, visit www.otterbein.edu/business-accounting-economics/100th-anniversary-history/

When it was dedicated on May 17, 1975, few could have predicted the incredible stories that would be set at the Rike Physical Education Center.

Prior to 1975, men’s indoor athletics took place in the Alumni Gymnasium – now Battelle Fine Arts Center. But a lead gift of $300,000 from the Rike family of Dayton, OH, allowed Otterbein to build a new, $1.5 million, state-of-the-art athletics facility. Fondly called “The Otterdome,” the Rike Center was considered the envy of the OAC at the time of its dedication. It is now the home of women’s and men’s basketball, volleyball, and men’s and women’s wrestling.

The design has allowed the facility to be adapted to address changing needs over the past 50 years, thanks to the open-area concept championed by former Director of Athletics Elmer “Bud” Yoest ’53, P’77, P’80. The Rike Center has hosted commencements, college fairs, and even the October 2019 Democratic Presidential Debate, presented by CNN and The New York Times.

For its 50th anniversary, the Rike Center received some upgrades, including two indoor golf practice facilities (a simulator and space for putting practice) and, most importantly, a new, state-ofthe-art floor.

The maple hardwood floor covers 12,200 square feet and has a 61% force reduction, which means that athletes using the floor absorb 39% of the impact, while the floor absorbs the rest of the impact. The new floor replaces the one installed in 1992, which was also maple hardwood, but only had a 40% force reduction. Tony Stalford, the president of The Final Floor, Inc., is also part of Rike Center history; he has installed every floor the Rike Center has had, starting when he was a teenager helping to install the center’s first floor.

To celebrate its 50th anniversary with some exciting new updates, here’s a look back at the history of “The Rike.”

​Dear Alumni and Friends,
What a spectacular Homecoming Otterbein celebrated this year! If you missed it, you missed a good one. Music, tents, activities for families, and conversation sprawled across Towers lawn. There was a new parade route with floats and entrants not only from our student organizations but from enthusiastic alumni groups, too. I loved seeing the Classes of 1974 and 1969 in the parade. I don’t think their reunion fun ever slowed down!​

Somehow, the Offices of Engagement and Development partnered to help organize and host even more events this year — a full house for the Alumni Awards, a gala to mark 15 years of the Austin E. Knowlton Center for Equine Science, an ’80s Theatre Alumni Reunion, an Alumni Choir concert, and the Black Student Union’s All-Star Weekend. While much was new for the 2024 Homecoming, the constant was the spirit of Cardinals back home to celebrate the place that gave you lifelong friends, a strong start in life, and a host of memories.

I also had the chance to share my annual State of the University Address over the Homecoming weekend, which I did again online for alumni who couldn’t join us in person. What I shared with them and what I want you to know is this: while things are looking dire for a lot of higher education right now with college closures averaging almost one per week along with other schools experiencing painful cuts in faculty, staff, and academic programs and enrollment shortfalls — Otterbein is standing strong.

We were in the enviable position to have welcomed a large and diverse class of entering first year students to campus. (You can see the new class statistics on pg. 3.) While other schools gauge their exclusivity on their ability to deny students admission, Otterbein honors its role as a College of Opportunity. Not only is it the right thing to do — we’re seeing strong indicators in student success, retention, and persistence. Otterbein knows that creating diverse learning environments positively impacts the outcomes of all students.

We’re doubling down on the power of integrative and experiential education. We’ve already realized growth thanks to the addition of an Esports team, a women’s wrestling team (the fastest growing sport in the state), new recruiters for Equine and Nursing programs as well as for the Marching Band, and we’re planning the first all-campus READY Day as part of our four-year professional and career-readiness preparation program for all students. I always tell families if you want to watch life unfold — go to another school. If you want to DO — come to Otterbein.

Finally, we’re honoring our commitment to advance the common good. Our work in co-founding the Coalition for the Common Good is allowing us to serve new models of workforce development directly to employers in our region. We’re also expanding opportunities for Otterbein students with access to Graduate Early Admission Pathways, giving students a chance to shorten time and expense to a graduate degree. It’s clear that there is power in the partnerships we’re building.

My whole update, along with thoughtful questions from alumni, is available online on the Alumni/Family Engagement website at www.otterbein.edu/alumni, as well as the online version of Towers at www.otterbein.edu/towers. I invite you to listen if you’re excited about the direction Otterbein is headed.

And if we missed you at Homecoming, I hope we’ll see you back on campus soon — for a game, a theatre or music production, a lecture, the Holiday Tree Lighting, or any other great Otterbein tradition. We’re counting on your involvement and support as a proud member of our Cardinal Nation!

Sincerely,

John L. Comerford, Ph.D.

When Otterbein was selected by the American Association for Independent Colleges and Universities in 2020 as the first university in Ohio to host a Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation (TRHT) Campus Center, it challenged its community to begin the difficult work ahead.

Since then, the TRHT program has trained facilitators, hosted Racial Healing Circles and other programs, and completed an oral history project. Four student fellows, working with faculty mentors, recorded interviews with alumni of color about their Otterbein experiences. The Otterbein University Alumni of Color Oral History Project embodies the “Truth” component of TRHT in seeking to look honestly at the ways educational institutions have embodied racial hierarchy. The goal of the project was to assemble the fullest, most honest account of Otterbein’s history, because understanding its history is necessary in order to dismantle racial hierarchy and transform the culture of its campus and community.

Last summer, Otterbein’s co-founding partner in the Coalition for the Common Good, Antioch University, was named a TRHT Campus Center. With that addition, Otterbein’s TRHT team saw an opportunity to serve even more people through collaboration. On Jan. 16, 2024, the joint team held a day of coordinated conversations online, reaching 100 participants in Ohio and at Antioch’s campuses in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Seattle, and Keene, New Hampshire.

“We held an all-day TRHT event in honor of the seventh National Day of Racial Healing that incorporated a number of faculty, staff and students participating in Racial Healing Circles from both Otterbein and Antioch,” said Otterbein’s Chief Diversity Officer Frank Dobson Jr., Ph.D. “That was a great 2024 starting point for more TRHT-related programming in collaboration with Antioch.”

Racial Healing Circles are discussions that allow participants to work toward equity and inclusion. The Coalition held Racial Healing Circles from morning to evening, scheduled to accommodate everyone who wished to participate regardless of their location.

“This experience allows community members to listen for understanding. In addition, healing circles­ — a form of restorative practice­ — serve as a safe space where individuals can freely express their emotions, fostering connection, empathy, and understanding among participants,” said Dobson.

“Racial Healing Circles serve as the foundational work to build upon Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging,” added Lemuel Watson, Ed.D., Antioch’s senior associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and vice provost for community engagement.

Selethia Benn, Ed.S., director of Otterbein’s Office of Social Justice and Activism, has worked extensively to plan programming around issues of TRHT,  including Otterbein’s annual Martin Luther King  Jr. Convocation.

This year’s convocation featured Shawn Harper, a former NFL offensive lineman and motivational speaker. Harper invites individuals to find their own purpose as they fulfill a calling to serve others.

“My encouragement for you today is to pick up the baton … and lead this community with courage,” Harper told the campus community, holding up a baton to emphasize the importance of his sentiment. “I will not go with the flow. I will fight injustices and be a superhero. The darker the night, the brighter the light.”

Harper’s passion for helping others is a reflection of King’s legacy.

The 2024 Pack Scholar-in-Residence, Brian Smedley, also has connections to upcoming TRHT programming. April is National Minority Health Month, which coincides with the visit of Smedley, an equity scholar and senior fellow at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C. He has studied unconscious bias and stereotyping among healthcare providers in the U.S., which lead to lower quality of care for patients of color.

Otterbein is continuing to explore these and  other issues of social injustice independently and collaboratively with Antioch University through Otterbein’s TRHT programs and initiatives, continuing the University’s rich history of confronting issues of equity dating back to its earliest days.

Watson said he is encouraged by Otterbein and Antioch University’s shared commitment to education for a more just society — including building and preserving democracy. “College campuses serve as the ideal setting for students to develop skills and connect with others from diverse backgrounds. Through active listening and understanding, students can create meaningful relationships and foster a sense of community that promotes healing and growth.”