With over 55,000 students on the main campus, and over 15,000 faculty members, The Ohio State University is effectively a city located within the city of Columbus. The relationship between OSU and the City of Columbus is one that is long lasting, and always evolving.

We recently had the pleasure of speaking on the phone with OSU President E. Gordon Gee to ask his thoughts on that city/university relationship, find out more about various developments and projects, and hear what other thoughts he has on the future of OSU.

Walker Evans: Thanks for taking the time to talk with me today, President Gee.

E. Gordon Gee: I’m honored to be able to take some time. What’s going on?

WE: I’ve often heard The Ohio State University described as a city within the city of Columbus… meaning that sometimes there is little interaction between the populations that live on or near campus and the larger regional population. What sort of thoughts do you have on the relationship between OSU and The City of Columbus?

Gee: Well, first of all we have a wonderful relationship; the Mayor and I meet frequently. We meet once a quarter to talk about all of the relationship building that we have. I think the nature of the university’s isolation has been much less over the last eight to ten years. Through our campus partners program; we’ve built a downtown art center; we use the theaters downtown like the Lincoln Theatre and of course the rest of the nearby community building. From that point of view we do kind of have the constructive problems of being a city, but we also are a city within a city as you just described it. But we are a very engaged partner by any stretch of the imagination.

WE: This past summer, the Urban Land Institute unveiled a 50 year Master Plan project for OSU which seeks to transform the layout of the campus for the future. What thoughts do you have on the master plan, and what vision do you have for OSU in the decades ahead?

Gee: That Master Planning process – you know, we have undergone the most massive master planning process of any university in the country. And our framework program not only embraces our university, it embraces the university community beyond the university neighborhoods; it embraces the city. We are very committed to a comprehensive planning process for ourselves and the city that really makes sense.

WE: One of the hot topics right now on Columbus Underground is the city-wide “branding” efforts that we have struggled with in the past. I’ve heard some folks say that we need to maybe move away from our connection to OSU football and the recognition that we have as being a large college town, but I’ve also heard others say that we need to brand ourselves as a bastion of creativity and innovation, which obviously our young and educated college demographic would play a large part in. What sort of role do you think should OSU be playing in the overall branding strategies for the City of Columbus?

Gee: Ohio State University has great brand name, nationally and internationally. We ought to make sure that we brand ourselves together. Columbus happens to have the second largest population per capita of college students of any city in the nation. Next only to Boston. The notion of this being an intellectual capital, knowledge city, all those kinds of things should be very much a part of their branding process. I think to move away from that would not be wise.

WE: Do you have any ideas on what our city’s slogan could be?

Gee: No. There are a lot of very clever people who will figure that one out, I’m sure.

WE: A few years ago, you proposed a plan to keep OSU Sophomores living on campus as freshmen are currently required and part of that strategy is under way with the new “South Campus High Rise Renovation and Addition Project“.

Gee: Part of that is very much a part of our process, absolutely.

WE: On the flip side, we’re also seeing a lot of discussion about the Edwards Development Company planning a 469-bed off-campus development near 15th and High to add new off-campus living quarters to the area. How do you think both of these projects will impact the rental community surrounding OSU and what effect will it have on reshaping those neighborhoods moving forward?

Gee: I think that our off-campus partners are very important. I think the more that we can get folks engaged in upgrading and committing themselves to off-campus areas, the more we’ll have students. It’s not simply about sophomores committed to being on-campus; it’s about creating a university community in which the vast majority of our undergraduates live in a neighborhood and that we make it more available to faculty and staff and our graduate students. It’s about building our university community which is not necessarily in the boundaries of the university but within the boundaries of our university neighborhood. Any time you have people interested in building additional projects that make sense to the community, they certainly will be important to the university.

WE: Work is already under way on the new ProjectONE Medical Center expansion, and interestingly, part of that project includes a $10 million commitment to neighborhood improvements surrounding OSU’s University Hospital East, located on the Near East Side. Can you tell us a bit more about what that neighborhood improvement will look like for that community and what sort of benefit you think OSU will have to restoring some of the history of that area?

Gee: We’ve made a real commitment to the Near East Side. We have our surgery center, our Hospital East, and we’ve now bought the old Veteran’s Administration building, which we are going to convert into clinical and research space. Most importantly though, we want to make sure that those neighborhoods are accommodating to our partnership with the neighborhoods. So that’s the reason that we have made that commitment.

WE: Last year, the City of Columbus formally laid out the 2010 Downtown Strategic Plan, and one of the most interesting components of the project was the “River Greenway” idea that suggested that we remove multiple low-head dams connecting Downtown to OSU along the Scioto and Olentangy Rivers. Is this a project that you would endorse moving forward with, and do you think it has value in connectivity or recreational purposes?

Gee: We are committed to that project and indeed, that’s part of our own strategic plan. Our own framework has really focused on the river as being a central core activity and opportunity for the university and we’ve just never taken advantage of the river either as a city or as a university. So connecting the city and the university more closely through that river and through those walkways will be very important.

WE: I’m a big fan of the OSU Urban Arts Space located in the Lazarus Building Downtown…

Gee: Me too! I think its great!

WE: It’s a great venue for arts exhibitions and events, and I think it’s a wonderful way to build another connection between OSU, the students, and the arts programs with the general public, Downtown workers and Downtown visitors. Do you have any thoughts on other types of projects that would help connect different programs at OSU with Downtown Columbus in similar ways?

Gee: I’m thoroughly committed to having the university much more embedded in the city. This is our city, this is our university – together it is us, you know. So I think that’s important. One of the examples of how we are heavily engaged is through the management of Nationwide Arena, which again is an opportunity for the university to be fully engaged in the community and use all of our assets to be more involved in the city. I’m taking a group of people to the drums downtown and we are moving some of our hockey and basketball programs downtown on a fairly regular basis – all those kinds of things are part of that revitalization and re-commitment effort.

WE: My final question is going to put you on the spot. Outside of OSU… what are your three favorite places in Columbus?

Gee: Oh gosh, you know I moved back to Columbus because I really do think it’s a wonderful place to live. I love the neighborhood that I live in, the Bexley neighborhood. It’s walkable, it’s got great accommodating parks and recreation areas. I like the university resident’s neighborhood very much as a matter of fact. That’s number one. Number two is I fully enjoy the kind of restaurants we have in the city. I’m not going to name my favorite but I do like restaurants just as an option to go enjoy myself. The third, outside of the university, I think the Short North is a fabulous area.

WE: Great! Thanks again for taking the time to answer a few questions today!

Gee: Thank you for asking. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful day!