WILBERFORCE, Ohio
Central State University (CSU), which only
seven months ago faced a very real threat of extinction from Ohio
legislators, has emerged from a financial and political crisis and is
showing strong signs of renewal.
Although obstacles to CSU’s long-term health remain, state higher
education officials, students, and university administrators agree that
the current trends are reason for optimism. And it also appears that a
rebuilding program, spearheaded by Central State’s new president, John
Garland, is starting to bear fruit.
Located in southwestern Ohio, Central State is just twenty miles
east of Dayton. It is across a state highway from, but not directly
connected with, the private Wilberforce University.
“We’re going in an upward direction,” said Tiiara Patton, president
of CSU’s student government and a student member of CSU’s board of
trustees. “I think we have an administration that is student-oriented,
that makes an extra effort to address our concerns. I am very
optimistic.
“I know Central State University will be here a long while — long enough for my kids to come here,” she added.
That wasn’t the case in early 1997, when Republican legislators in
the Ohio General Assembly considered yanking all state funding from the
school, which was in the midst of a financial crisis. By the end of
June, the combined efforts of Ohio Gov. George Voinovich, CSU’s board
of trustees, a group of African American legislators, and an executive
management team that ran the university on an interim basis secured
CSU’s $28 million state funding for the next two years.
