Tag: Michael Drake

Michael Drake takes post as University of California president

Former Ohio State president Michael Drake has been named as the new president of the University of California system.

Former Ohio State president Michael Drake has accepted the president position within the University of California per multiple reports. He will be the university’s first Black president.

Drake became the fifteenth president of Ohio State on June 30, 2014 after spending nine years as the president of UC Irvine. His time at Ohio State was one that polarized many. From academic policy to the handling of the Urban Meyer suspension stemming from the Zach Smith domestic violence investigation, the critics were many. Yet, his peers and academia have high esteem for him to this day.

Drake was planning to stay at Ohio State as president emeritus as Kristina Johnson takes on the presidency at OSU, but instead will be taking on a more visible role at another large institution of higher learning. For him, it is going home in a sense. Before his time at UC Irvine, Drake served as the vice chancellor for health affairs at Cal.

A little unlike Ohio State, the University of California system has several more significant satellites rather than one main campus as the priority. He will be in charge of ten campuses and all the surrounding support, disciplines, and various centers of study.

“Dr. Drake personifies the qualities we looked for in selecting a new president,” said John A. Pérez, chair of the UC Board of Regents in a statement. “He is committed to seeing the whole student and to supporting all our students. He recognizes the incalculable value of faculty and staff to the University’s mission, and he understands the importance of the public and private partnerships that help us achieve that mission. As the first person of color to serve as UC president, Dr. Drake returns to UC at an important point in the University’s journey. This is a homecoming the University of California is very excited to be celebrating early.”

 

Ohio State president Michael Drake: “Our hope and intention is to safely have a football season.”

Ohio State president Michael Drake confirmed plans to have college football on campus, with some fans this fall.

It’s beginning to look more and more like we’ll have college football this fall. What that looks like in each city, state, and campus remains to be seen as things open up like patchwork, but the signs are looking good.

First, there was the news that Ohio State was ready to welcome football players to campus on June 8, then the NCAA D-1 Committee voted to allow voluntary on-campus workouts as of June 1. Then, Wednesday, Ohio State announced plans to have in-person learning on campus this fall.

You can now add one more signpost that says college football is likely to happen — at least at Ohio State.

While speaking at a Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday, OSU president Michael Drake said that things are moving forward towards having college football on campus this fall.

“Regarding football, our hope and intention is to safely have a football season, with an audience spaced out in our stadium, but we haven’t made any final decisions,” Drake said.

This comes just a couple of weeks after athletic director Gene Smith said Ohio State is fortunate with its setup in regards to the stadium.

“Obviously, we’re fortunate 100,000 seats in the stadium,” Smith reiterated. “So, could we implement the current CDC guidelines, the state guidelines around physical distancing, mask requirements, and all those types of things in an outdoor environment and have obviously significantly less fans than what we are used to? I think it’s possible. I just feel like we have the talent, skill, and space capacity to provide an opportunity for a certain number of fans to have access to our particular stadium. Of course, that wouldn’t be true across the country because of capacity. But I think we can get there.”

Smith also said he is getting more comfortable with the idea of holding games without fans if need be. He had originally had a hard time envisioning allowing athletes on campus if it wasn’t safe enough to have students on campus.

That too may be a moot point, after Drake’s announcement for classes this autumn. Yet another nod to things getting back to closer to normal.

As the major sports become to come to the table with return-to-play plans, and with all of these comments and actions beginning to align, things are looking good for Ohio State to kick off its college football season on September 5 against Bowling Green.

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Ohio State announces in-person classes for this fall with precautions and modification

Ohio State president Michael Drake announced that students will return to campus for in-person classes this fall.

There will be in-person classes for the fall semester at Ohio State.

University president Michael Drake announced the news at a Board of Trustees meeting on Wednesday. The semester will begin as in-person instruction on August 25, and end December 4. Instruction will move to a virtual setting after November 25. That means everything after Thanksgiving break — including final exams — will be done online.

“Today I’m pleased to share our plans to resume in-person classes for the autumn semester,” Drake announced. “This will include a combination of the use of appropriate face coverings, physical distancing, hand hygiene, limited density in indoor spaces, control of the flow of traffic into and around buildings, continued employee teleworking when possible, testing, symptoms tracking and contact tracing. We’re developing an approach to teaching and learning that combines in-person and distance methods, and our academic calendar will be adjusted accordingly.”

Ohio State football to be impacted by Covid-19 says OSU president

The dates are a modification from the original plan of ending the semester on December 17. Commencement had been set for December 20, but that will likely be changed as well as things progress.

“We anticipate adding to our plan throughout the course of the summer,” Drake said.

Ohio State had originally shuttered all in-person classes on March 19, extending it through the summer semester because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But now, it looks like there will be a careful approach to getting students back on campus this autumn.

“We’re dedicated to continuing our core mission, including providing the best possible experience for our students while operating under a set of circumstances that no one has experienced before,” Drake said.

 

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Ohio State president Michael Drake has a message of gratitude for Buckeye Nation

Ohio State president Michael Drake sent a video of thanks and gratitude for how all of Buckeye Nation is coming together to fight COVID-19.

These are troubling times, and it takes determination, discipline, ingenuity, and compliance to get to the other side of this coronavirus pandemic. It’s no easy task to stay at home and only go out when absolutely necessary.

On top of that, schooling, and jobs are being done online, and only essential businesses are open across this globe in many spots. It’s all like juggling many juggling acts while walking into a storm.

Especially in Ohio, action was swift and decisive in putting measures in place to try and mitigate the spread of the coronavirus. There’s a long way to go, but revised models suggest the social-distancing is working.

Count Ohio State president Michael Drake as a proud papa of sorts when it comes to everyone associated with the University. From students, to faculty and staff, to the health professionals, everyone is working in concert to do what they can to defeat this disease. Drake wants to know it does not go unnoticed.

Click on the below and get a message of thanks from the OSU prez.

 

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Ohio State president Michael Drake says football season will be impacted by Coronavirus

While appearing on local radio, Ohio State University president Michael Drake said college football season will be impacted by Covid-19.

To say that life has been altered because of the Covid-19 health crisis would be the understatement of the century. Athletic events, group gatherings, in-person schooling, and places of business have come to a grinding halt in most cases.

For many, seeing live sports again would be a sign of improvement and a path towards life returning to normal. Many have wondered whether the college football season will also be impacted by what’s going on in the world today, and for the first time, we have someone with some decision making ability speaking out on what he believes will happen with the Buckeye’s 2020 season.

OSU president Michael Drake, while appearing on WOSU radio in Columbus, said the football season will be impacted at least in some ways according to a piece appearing in the Columbus Dispatch (subscription required).

“We’re not assuming, necessarily, that the season is going to start and be like last season was,” Drake said. “That’s not at all a given. We’re not also taking that there won’t be a season. Something between those two wide error bars is where we’re looking for planning.”

On one hand, it looks like Drake believes there will be some semblance of a football season, but that things will look much, much different than what we saw last year, or many years prior.

When asked what a return to the field would look like, Drake urged caution and patience.

“There will be a couple things we have to learn before we know much,” said Drake. “One, it’ll have to be safe for people to come together to have stadiums full of people. We don’t know when that will be. If the football season was supposed to start in July, we’d say you can’t do that. We’re not going to be a place in July that that would be something we could offer safely. After that, August, September, is maybe different.”

Ohio State is set to break the seal on the 2020 season at home against Bowling Green on September 5. There’s still a lot to be determined, and many options still on the table like holding contests without fans. But it is looking more and more like college football will look a lot different this fall. It might have to be.

“The excitement of the enterprise doesn’t depend entirely on a stadium full of people,” Drake said. “That’s one aspect of it.”

Ohio State to hold virtual spring commencement

Ohio State will still be holding spring commencement, but in a virtual, live-stream format because of the COVID-19 health crisis.

The novel Coronavirus has turned the world upside down and changed almost every area of life. Large gatherings have been banned in most states, and stay-at-home orders the norm. It is truly a historic time we are living through.

That has now spilled over into Ohio State’s scheduled commencement for the spring quarter. The university announced plans to proceed with the original date of May 3, but to move it to a virtual, live-stream setting. Apple CEO Tim Cook will be delivering the commencement address.

The new format was announced in a video message and release by University president Michaael Drake. It can be found by accessing it through the below link.

Here’s to wishing all the graduates luck in their career endeavors, and an end to this COVID-19 health crisis.