Gustavus’ new man in charge has an affinity for sports and comes in with a host of fresh ideas to improve athletics upon the hill
Growing up in a town of about 30,000 people, President Jack R. Ohle is no stranger to small-town football.
“I started playing football in the second grade, grew up in Steubenville, Ohio, which was a steel mill and coal mining town, and football was a big thing. I didn’t play in a high school football game, to my knowledge, which had less than maybe 10 to 12 thousand people there,” said Ohle.
While he played football for years, it is not the President’s only athletic interest.
“I was a football player all the way through college, I was captain of the football team and I coached, but is that more important than basketball? Absolutely not. I couldn’t play basketball, but I love basketball. I’m looking forward to watching gymnastics, and I’m looking forward to going out and watching Nordic skiing-I’ve never been involved in Nordic skiing,” said Ohle.
Ohle is interested in all teams at Gustavus. As one of only two presidents representing Division III on the NCAA council, he stresses the idea of student first, then athlete.
“I went to college to play football, but I learned very quickly that there was much more to college than playing football,” said Ohle. “You are a student first, and if you want to compete we will support that, and if you don’t we will support that, too.”
Ohle is not only a supporter of athletics; he speaks highly of the forensics, music and dance programs, as well as all of the academic programs on campus.
“Kris, my wife, and I will try to attend every game we can on-campus, and we go to some off-campus, [too]. We try to go to every sport we can. I do not try to in any way pit one sport against another. Quite honestly,” said Ohle, “I’m looking forward to being at a school that has hockey; I’ve never seen hockey. I’ve seen it on television, but never live at a college. Does that mean I’m making it more important than anything else? No.”
The Gustavus athletic program has been rated within the top twenty Division III colleges in the Director’s Cup (a NCAA ranking of Division I, II, and III athletic programs) since 1997, and Ohle wants to keep it that way. He states that the program is already top notch, but any changes to be made would be more on the facility side.
There has been rumor of a Lund expansion. However, the first issue on the table is the ice for the hockey teams. If there was a decision to make the ice permanent, then the rest of Lund would be reconstructed at that time.
“If we want the ice to stay in Lund, we also want it to be done in conjunction with other things. You don’t want to do things in pieces,” said Ohle.
The idea of a Lund expansion is based on the interests of the students. There are many options that could be put in place for the future of Lund.
“What we really need to do is look at a building that was built in the 1980s and how we can upgrade the building and maybe add on [to] the building. Areas that I see as areas that students would probably be interested in would be something along the lines of a major fitness center, [with] everything from crunch balls to a climbing wall to stations where people can go through equipment,” said Ohle. “We have that now, but in a very small space, and the students are somewhat restricted … opening that space up is one idea that has certainly been discussed.”
Ohle also suggested a second idea of a more recreational pool area in addition to the competitive pool, where students can be “playing water volleyball and basketball and to have something that would be a vortex where the water moves-also a big slide and hot tub for 40-50 students-those are things that colleges are now doing.” said Ohle.
The idea of general play is another interest the President is looking into: somewhere for the Saint Peter community to come and participate. Ohle is an advocate for the idea of having involvement from not only students and faculty, but alumni, friends and the community.
“I didn’t come here to build buildings, I came here to build relationships. By that,” said Ohle, “I mean I want our constituents, alumni, friends, faculty, students, church leaders and the community of Saint Peter to be fully engaged in the future of this place. We have to find ways to bring them into the discussion, and if they have ownership in that, the sky is the limit to what we can do.
Mickey Haller, the Head Women’s Basketball coach, is exited to work with Ohle and his ideas
“I think the President has some great ideas for our athletic department. He has certainly left his mark at Wartburg, and I am excited to see what could happen here at Gustavus,” said Haller. “President Ohle is very supportive of athletics and very personable. I feel that his goals for our institution are well-founded, and will continue to propel us for many years to come.”
Photo By: Alex Messenger