ONU Then vs. Now

For my next speech in my public speaking class, we were given the task to write an informative speech. One of the requirements for giving this speech is we have to be an expert on the subject we present. I don’t consider myself an expert on anything, so I have been struggling to find a subject I am willing to give a speech about for six minutes. Some of the ideas I had included social media, mental health and procrastination. Although I know a good amount of information about these topics, I didn’t think my class would be interested enough to listen to a speech about any of it. Then, while I was sitting in the class listening to my peers’ speeches, the idea came to me. A presentation about how ONU has changed since my parents went to college. Don’t ask me how I got to this idea, it just popped in my head and I had an epiphany. I am not necessarily an expert on the history of Ohio Northern, but I’ve heard enough about ONU from my parents that I could make a presentation comparing then versus now. I left class and immediately called my mom to get the information I needed to actually put the speech together. This blog will consist of the main differences I found between ONU when my parents went to school and the state of the university now.

The Food/Restaurants

I was not satisfied with the variety of restaurants Ada had to offer when I visited the first time, but little did I know what the food scene was like when my parents went to school. There were a whopping four restaurants on Main Street: Hardy’s, Northern Freeze, Stromboli’s and Dairy Queen. Obviously, they main food groups, but I could never be satisfied with that lineup of restaurants. They also could only go to the cafeteria, which was still Mac, to use their swipes, so eating out was a necessity for most students. Apparently when McDonald’s and Taco Bell came to town, it was ground breaking for Ada, which doesn’t surprise me but makes me sad honestly. Anyways, besides those restaurants, there were three bars: The Regale Beagle, Red Fox Inn and John and Toni’s. The Regale Beagle and John and Toni’s are both still standing today, but John and Toni’s actually burned down and was rebuilt across the street. Every time my parents come to ONU, I make them try a new restaurant so I can taunt them with the options they didn’t have when they were here.

Buildings

The fact I found the most interesting was when my parents went to school, the engineering, science and pharmacy buildings weren’t attached. For students in those STEM majors, they find it necessary that the buildings are connected because of the tundra winters. I cannot imagine having every class in those three buildings and having to walk outside for the one minute it takes to walk to the other building. The Dicke College of Business had not been built and I don’t think it was even an idea at that point in time. My home, the Freed Center of Performing Arts (and communication studies), was not built until their last year on campus. There were no apartments or other housing options behind the freshman dorms. This means no Lakeview, Stadiumview or Affinity; all of that area was still cornfields, which made the phrase “in the middle of a cornfield” even more accurate. Also, the library only had two floors, compared to the now three floors, and the Kinghorn Fieldhouse was under construction. Imagining the already small and bare campus without some of these major buildings is crazy to me because they are now some of the most popular places on campus.

Technology

I’m more including this this portion of the history because I like to make fun of my parent’s lack of technology. For example, when my mom was accepted into ONU, they told her to bring her own typewriter to school. This was because there were only 12 computers in the library and four personal computers in the lounge in the freshman dorms. Each room came with wall phone and obviously, there was no such thing as email so they received either phone calls or letters for information. They suffered through their freshman year with no air conditioning in the dorms and also weren’t allowed to loft their beds. When it was time to schedule classes for the next semester, each student had to go to the registrar’s office and stand in line to hand schedule their classes. ONU had not yet created a requirement for living on campus, so renting houses was an option for students early on in their college years. Most of these facts are linear with all students who went to school during this time; I always find it interesting how much the times have changed in a single generation of people.

Despite the lack of entertainment ONU had to offer students in terms of food and technology, there was no lack of fun. My mom was apparently a prankster and no matter what he says, I’m convinced my dad was mischievous himself. He is the one who attempted to steal an antenna from the roof of Park Hall in order to get cable in his room! We can’t forget my mom, who tried to block off her friend’s dorm frame with newspaper and fill the gap between the frame and the door with popcorn. From what I know about the prank, it failed miserably, but I’m sure it was still entertaining and gave her one of the best stories to tell. But, nothing will ever top my dad proposing to my mom on the bridge over the pond behind the freshman dorms because that is my favorite story of all.