As the controversy over Hill Memorial’s potential demolition settles, I have found myself left conflicted. Among countless other considerations (which I’ve laid out here), I now feel it might be important to consider what Hill means to the administration, not just what it means to the student body. Since the governing bodies at ONU aren’t always exactly the most transparent, I was interested in finding a unique metric of Hill’s esoteric value. What I came across was this: a compilation of (nearly) every time administration decided to use an image of Hill to somehow represent Ohio Northern University. As you scroll through this list, consider what Hill means to you and whether you believe it deserves such a special place in our minds.
On Ohio Northern’s website, pictures of Hill can be seen on the bottom of every page with useful links, as well as on the pages for the Office of the President, Business Services, Campus Sustainability, and Human Resources, none of which have any pertinence to Hill.
These Banners were recently installed along the main road entering campus. Two of them feature Hill.
On social media, Hill also has a presence. Pictured above, ONU’s YouTube logo is just a picture of Hill-a crop of one of the two iconic images we see regularly used. On Instagram, a silhouette of Hill is used as a cover for the “Campus” archive of stories. Not to read too far into the matter, this suggests both that Hill is representative of the campus and that its profile is iconic enough to be recognizable.
In Heterick Memorial Library, Hill is used both as a background for the login page on all computers and as part of a composite backdrop in the Northern Lights Café.
Finally, and perhaps most emblematically, Hill Memorial holds a place among the coveted photograph line in MacIntosh Center. This photograph is one of only two in Mac which does not feature a student, the other being Lehr Memorial, directly adjacent. Intended to commemorate the essence of studenthood at Ohio Northern, why do we find Hill present here? Further, why doesn’t it feel out of place?