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Emilee Chinn | FOR THE POST
Students gather under Alumni Gateway.
10.05.17
Few experiences are universal for students and alumni at Ohio University.
Most people remember their first servings of cheese fries from Union Street Diner or the first time they got spooked at The Ridges. They remember their first nights out or the first exams they struggled with.
While each person remembers those experiences differently, most OU students and alumni can recall one tradition almost the same way — walking through Alumni Gateway.
Following the Marching 110, the group of new students make its way up Richland Avenue from the Convo. It’s probably ridiculously hot outside, since it’s the end of August, and the sun is beating down on them.
The band can be heard across campus, but only vaguely until it gets closer to College Green, which is swarming with new opportunities and upperclassmen waiting at the involvement fair.
Then, the music gets louder and everyone remembers what it feels like to be back on campus, and the new freshmen are officially welcomed to Athens for the first time.
“So enter that daily thou mayest grow in knowledge wisdom and love,” the gateway reads.
Alumni Gateway was constructed in 1915 as a gift from the graduating class to mark the 100th anniversary of the first graduating class of OU students. The first class to graduate from OU was also the first to graduate in the old Northwest Territory.
The quotes on the gate were taken from a Latin inscription found over the main portal of the University of Padua, Italy, according to the university website, and have a symbolic meaning on each side of the gateway.
The project was funded by alumni donations, and in May of 1915, The Green and White reported construction was to be dedicated on June 1 of that year and would cost about $2,150.
“The beginning of the week saw the commencement of the Alumni Gateway, which will be dedicated on June 1,” The Green and White, which later became The Post, reported. “The contractor is Mrs. Maud J. Fenzel, of Athens, who will have charge of its construction. The material including brick, stone and iron. Work had already been let and is now on its way. Mrs. Fenzel says it will be completed within ten days after the material is on the ground.”
At the time, the group of alumni was enthusiastic about the project and thought it was building something that would last and be part of everyone’s future experiences on campus.
“If the money were to be invested in something of a worthless nature we could not censure the Alumni from showing a certain degree of hesitancy in contributing to the plan, but the Gateway will serve as a monument and will be for years a sacred and beautiful structure, something that will mean a great deal to the institution,” The Green and White reported.
The first alumnus to donate was Adam G. Elder, of Columbus, who graduated in 1904, The Green and White reported in 1915. Many alumni donated to the project, knowing it would make a lasting impact on campus. Some were even willing to give bigger donations to the project.
“Your communication concerning the Alumni Gateway received and I cheerfully duplicate my first check,” one alumnus wrote in a letter addressed to a professor. “I am glad as an alumnus of Ohio University to assist, even though in a humble way, in the erection of this fitting memorial as a token of love and loyalty to our Alma Mater.”
More than 100 years ago, alumni of OU knew the gateway would be symbolic for students. Now, students enter as freshmen and may leave through the other side of the gateway as graduates. They travel in their caps and gowns to have OU leave them with a final message:
“So depart that daily thou mayest better serve thy fellowmen thy country and thy God.”
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This story is part of a series of specially designed stories that represents some of the best journalism The Post has to offer. Check out the rest of the special projects here.