Quote:
Originally Posted by Magua
Quick question regarding the name(s) of the two universities.
Now, i've heard from a few random sources/people...nothing concrete though...that their was some dispute between the two schools regarding the names of the universities. Something along the lines of OU claiming it was the official STATE university of Ohio. Has Ohio State always gone by THE Ohio State University or was it later changed to add "the"
sorry if this is in the wrong place, but its the only thread i've found at this time regarding the two schools.
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Ohio State's name for the first few years of its existence was Ohio A&M, which is why you'll find it contantly being referred to as the Ohio A&M Aggies on the Miami of Ohio and OU boards. Apparently, it's believed that this name somehow negates the fact that both of those schools were passed over by the political and businsess leadership of the 1860's to be both the state's land-grant and flagship university, despite each school vigorously lobbying for the role. In fact, taking the unusual and more difficult step of creating an entirely new university to fulfill these roles rather than designating an existing public college to do so, made Ohio unique among Great Lakes states. That says something about how the two older institutions were viewed by the powers of the day. As for the "The" in the name it's been part of the official name of the university since 1878. President Jennings began to emphasize its use in the early 1980s as a means of subtly (or not so subtly depending on one's viewpoint) reminding the politicians and citizens of the state that Ohio State was created and mandated from its earliest years to fulfill a flagship role in the state's system of higher education.
While Miami of Ohio and OU are indeed older than Ohio State by around 60 years and were founded by a state charter, Ohio State was actually the first public university in the state which the state funded on a permanent annual basis, so founding dates aside, it can be argued that Ohio State was Ohio's first true "state university" as we would understand the term today. The state also legally declared Ohio State's flagship status in 1906 with the Eagleson Bill which barred Miami of Ohio and OU (later also BG and Kent) from offering doctoral education or conducting basic research, with those roles reserved for Ohio State. Let's see; the older brother(s) being deemed unfit for the leadership role and subsequently passed over and forced to watch the younger brother put in charge. There's an analogy with a fictional character. I just can't think of who.
So the next time someone from Miami of Ohio or OU talks about their school being older than Ohio State, remind them that not only does it mean nothing today but that history says that, despite a sixty year head start, neither university had managed to provide the citizens of Ohio with a proper state university, forcing the state to create one from scratch rather than take the chance that one of the existing schools would screw up the job.