Some fathers and sons play sports together. Some watch television together. Others become graduate students together.
Richard Rathjens and his son, also named Richard, are both first-year graduate students at Ohio State.
The elder Rathjens, who goes by Richard, is studying to attain his doctorate in turf and grass management in the department of horticulture and crop sciences. The younger Rathjens, who goes by the nickname J.R. is studying to get his master’s degree in sports management, having earned his bachelor’s degree from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla.
The Rathjenses made the decision to attend OSU independently of each other, though they had discussed the possibility.
“We had talked about it, but it wasn’t anything that we had made a joint decision about. It was just the way it kind of fell into place,” J.R. Rathjens said.
Though they did not decide to attend OSU because of each other, both are glad each decided to come to Columbus.
“In the back of my mind I always thought it would be neat to go to Ohio State at the same time he (Richard) was,” J.R. Rathjens said.
J.R. Rathjens decided to attend OSU after interning at the Department of Recreation Sports last spring.
Richard Rathjens decided to come to OSU to stay close to his family.
“In addition to J.R. I have two other children. They’re here in Ohio so I kind of wanted to stay in Ohio,” Richard said.
Attending OSU at the same time has given the Rathjens more time to see each other than they have had in years.
Richard and J.R. Rathjens’ mother divorced when the son was five years old. This, combined with J.R. doing his undergraduate studies in Florida, meant the two saw each other only a few times a year in recent years.
Now they are able to see each other much more frequently.
“We usually do dinner together once a week, which is kind of neat,” Richard said. They usually eat at North Commons.
In addition to having dinner together, the Rathjens also run together as a stress reliever and play soccer.
Though they see each other on a regular basis, they decided not to live together. They both realized the need the other has for personal space.
Studying at OSU has allowed the Rathjenses to form new bonds.
“It’s nice to bounce things off of other people. We have things in common that we didn’t have before we went to school,” Richard Rathjens said. “It’s exam time, we’ve studied together, so to speak. We didn’t study the same material but we were together.”
Having his father around has been a great experience for J.R.
“You would think it would be more important as an undergrad to be closer to home, but I didn’t have that since I was in Florida. It’s nice to have him so close in case something happens,” J.R. said. “I’d say I need a support system with my parents and family now more than I did as an undergrad just because of the workload. It’s nice to have someone in your family you can talk to who is going through the same thing.”
The Rathjenses are also able to spend time with their family from northeast Ohio.
“We’ll have my little brother and sister come up,” J.R. Rathjens said. “We all spend the night together in Jones Tower (in Richard Rathjens’ room). We spend time together, which is important.”
Richard said during these weekends they will have mattresses all over his room because his residence hall room is so small.
“It works, and it’s fun,” Richard said.
Having a unique last name has led to some odd moments for the Rathjenses. J.R. Rathjens, who is the head coach for the women’s club soccer team, said on a few occasions he has had players e-mail his father while trying to reach him.
Mike Dunn, the director of recreation sports, has gotten to know both the Rathjenses.
“I’ve seen the father-and-son aspect, and I’ve also seen the fellow-graduate-student aspect,” Dunn said. “They have a lot in common, but they also respect each other’s differences.”
While the Rathjens sometimes get strange looks from others who do not realize Richard is a student, they do not let it bother them.
“It’s not strange, it’s just a different situation. I think it’s rare,” J.R. Rathjens said.
Richard Rathjens said he thought it was unusual as well.
“Maybe with undergraduates students it’s possible to have brothers and sisters together, but to have father and son together as graduate students, I thought that was odd,” Richard Rathjens said.
The Rathjens have gotten others such as Dunn to consider this sort of possibility.
“It’s really neat. I have a son who will be 24 in October, and I would love to think that at some point in my life that the same thing will happen,” Dunn said.
