The names we put on buildings, the statues we build, and the art we produce as a university should be a sign of our united campus culture. We should take this opportunity of uncertainty to define ourselves. There are a few great opportunities on campus for renaming structures and ponds.
One of the greatest parts of Ohio Northern University is our campus; we have a beautiful campus with well-kept greenery, 4 lakes, and buildings old and new. Some of these lakes, however, could use better names. Lake Neiheiser has the best name of all the lakes by a large margin, being named after the Neiheiser family, dedicated by William Neiheiser, the former President of Reliance Mechanical Corporation, ONU alumni, and member of the Board of Trustees. The other lakes, however, have a lot of opportunities for change.
The lake between the Freed Center and Lakeview apartments, which is central to many of the paths from residence halls to campus, is named PAC Lake, which stands for Performing Arts Center Lake. This would be an adequate name if we had not named the Freed Center, the Freed Center. We should be open to renaming this lake, even if it is just Freed Lake. Or we could dedicate the pond to one of the many great performers to perform in the Freed Center since its dedication in 1990.
There are two other lakes/ponds that should be renamed. On the Remington Walk, which has statues donated and installed in 2007, there are two bodies of water. Across from Dial-Roberson Stadium is “Wetland Pond.” Next to the Stadiumview apartments is “Natural Lake”. Considering the aesthetic beauty of each of these lakes, and the significance of the nearby landmarks, such as the Green Monster, the Remington Walk, and Dial-Roberson Stadium, these lakes should have names that we can be proud of.
There is room for these lakes, especially given their proximity to many athletic fields, to be named after some of the athletes who might have walked by these lakes on their way to practice. Wetland Pond could be named after an alum of the football team, due to its proximity to the football field. Natural Lake could be named after an alum from the track and field team, as they practice outside near that pond. The mere blandness of the current names of these waters show that we could do better.
One last landmark that should be renamed is Fraternity Circle, primarily because there are only two fraternities nearby to this circle. Inside the circle are cannons donated by graduating classes, a piece of abstract art, and Neiheiser Lake, shaped like a polar bear, with the legs extending towards Kinghorn.
One could say that Fraternity Circle should not be renamed since it shows a part of ONU’s history as it was once a place where many fraternities and sororities had houses. However, we are far enough removed from that past to where the name is no longer really useful, and the name Fraternity circle itself could be confused with Affinity and its rounded grounds where many fraternities and sororities currently reside. I would be sympathetic to keeping the name if it was named after a particular fraternity leader from the past to keep on whatever legacy they had. However, the mere title of fraternity does not seem to be valuable in itself. But this argument could be salvaged by emphasizing the recommendations of BHDP to close the outer circle of Fraternity circle, which may preserve the history of it at one point being a circle.
Each of these instances of renaming should be made with care for the future, with consciousness of the stories we tell in their dedications. In the same way that we retell the stories of Lehr when looking at the Lehr Memorial Office Building or think of President Freed when looking at the Freed Center. While I am no ONU historian, nor pretend to be, I feel that we should be able to tell a story through our landmarks about what ONU is and what we strive to be.