COLUMBUS Ohio
There was something mighty familiar about the
selection-slash-coronation of Gordon Gee as Ohio
State University’s
new president last week.
The buzz as rumors of his return turned to reality. The
excited reception he got walking to the podium after trustees voted to hire
him. The sense of relief in a crowded room of Ohio
State backers.
The state had seen it all before, and just six months ago.
Gee’s appointment to the top academic job in the state resembled nothing less
than Ted Strickland’s landslide election as the state’s first Democratic
governor in almost two decades.
The immediate impression: there are two new sheriffs in
town.
“This, ladies and gentlemen, is Ohio
State’s time,” Gee announced
with religious-style fervor. With an equivalent energy being generated by
Strickland, the same could be true for the state of Ohio.
Both are career public servants in their mid-sixties. Both
are populists with moderate leanings. Both are religious Gee a devout Mormon,
Strickland a Methodist minister. Both stepped forward at a time of transition
to replace capable leaders who nevertheless lacked a certain spark.
