At Ohio State as elsewhere in our world, it is common to hear loud complaints from those who are aggrieved about some decision or other made by our leaders. Less common by far, unfortunately, is praise for leaders who make difficult decisions to solve complicated problems.
Several of our leaders here at Ohio State deserve such praise for their recent decision to continue the university’s HomeNet Internet access service in the face of a very difficult budget situation caused by state cuts.
Chief Information Officer Ilee Rhimes and his staff, under the leadership of Provost Ed Ray and President Karen Holbrook, listened carefully to the concerns expressed by members of the university community, and they ultimately made the right decision to continue to serve the needs of students, faculty and staff.
Leadership like this is precisely what is needed if the university is to continue to carry out its core missions of teaching, learning, and research in the face of shortsighted and harmful state budget cuts. Members of the university community should be glad to know that we have captains such as these to steer us through the current storm.
Joe Pironegraduate student in history
