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THEPOSTATHENS.COM
MARCH 18, 2025
VOLUME 115, ISSUE 24
Reshaping HCOM through a $70 million gift DREW HOFFMASTER | NEWS STAFF WRITER
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he Osteopathic Heritage Foundation announced Jan. 16 it was giving Ohio University’s Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine a $70 million gift to expand scholarships and fund future research. The gift includes $45 million for research and $25 million for scholarships upon raising $25 million in matching funds, making the Foundation one of the largest donors to an osteopathic medical school in the nation, according to an OHIO news release. HCOM has had a relationship with the Foundation for decades. Terri Donlin Huesman, president and CEO of the Foundation, said both have committed to improving health in Ohio by producing high-quality, compassionate osteopathic physicians. “This latest commitment has two primary goals: to substantially increase scholarships for medical students and to strengthen the Heritage College’s research enterprise with a focus on discovery that leads to life-changing impact,” Donlin wrote in a press release. According to the Appalachian Research
Commission, the supply of primary care physicians per 100,000 people in Appalachian Ohio is 25% lower than the national average and 30% lower than the average for the rest of Ohio. “Health disparities in Southeastern Ohio are significant, which is why it is important to cultivate the next generation of scientists at Ohio University and the Heritage College that are focused on pressing health issues impacting the region,” Donlin wrote in an email. Ken Johnson, the executive dean of the Heritage College and OU’s chief medical affairs officer, said the recent gift builds on the Foundation’s first gift of $105 million in 2011. Johnson said the 2011 gift transformed HCOM and primary care in Ohio as the college doubled its enrollment, opened two new medical campuses and trained thousands of primary care physicians. The 2011 gift also inspired HCOM’s “Vision 2020” plan, including strategies to increase the number and quality of primary care physicians in Ohio and to advance clinical research, care, access and training.
Now, the $70 million gift is launching HCOM’s “Vision 2035,” a new 10-year plan where the college will focus on minimizing debt for medical students and expanding translational research. The gift will also be used to establish a new research institute focused on aging, additional endowed faculty positions and the implementation of a Data Science Core. Johnson said the new institutes will bring more nationally-recognized researchers and major grant funding. Ila Lahooti, a third-year student studying osteopathic medicine at the OU Dublin campus, received an Osteopathic Heritage Foundation scholarship called the Abigail and George Faerber Scholarship for about $7,000. “Sometimes you have a lot of hard days with school, and you get discouraged, and you start to question yourself if you’re good enough to be where you are,” Lahooti said. “To just know that somebody else is willing to invest in you and believes in you, it was a really good confidence boost in that moment.” Lahooti was one of the 100 more
students who received a scholarship from the doubled Osteopathic Heritage Foundation Primary Care Scholarship Endowment. The scholarships are given to students studying primary care with high financial need. “It has just allowed me to focus on why I am in school, which is for my education and training, without that constant worry of finances in the background,” Lahooti said. “Just because we’re in school doesn’t take away the fact that we’re human and we still have bills to pay and lives to live.” According to an OHIO news release, 90% of the HCOM’s students are from Ohio, and many return to Ohio communities to serve in healthcare. “In the near term, in both areas of support research and student scholarship, the Foundation looks forward to learning about the discoveries to be realized in the labs and engaging with the students benefiting from scholarship,” Donlin wrote in an email. “Over time, the ultimate objective is to improve the health of Ohioans.” @DREWHJOURNALIST DH384223@OHIO.EDU
New student-ran publication brings fresh news to AHS DREW HOFFMASTER | NEWS STAFF WRITER
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new independent student-run publication called the Atomic Cougar Press Association has started up at Athens High School and is aiming to create articles ranging from school events to international news. The publication was started by four freshmen at Athens High School: Syles Rosser, Marek Ausseresses, Ryan Murphy and Lucas Dowdy. Rosser, the head journalist, said the association offers students another option to pursue journalism. The publication was created to provide students with a platform for discussion and to report on issues affecting their school and community, Rosser wrote in an email. “We don’t really want to be directly associated with the school,” Rosser said. “We want our association to be independently based from the school district.” The Atomic Cougar Press Association hopes to publish weekly once membership increases, which is currently at seven members. “We have The Matrix at Athens High School, and to be honest, they only publish once every quarter,” Rosser said. “I guess we just started it to publish more than them … and to just have a better publication that publishes more.” The name came from a previous domain name, Atomic Cougar, that Rosser owned. Rosser said the publication did not want to spend the money to change the name. “The name is definitely unique, and I hope that our name does draw some
more attention too,” Rosser said. Rosser said the publication’s first article was published Monday about a local sandstorm that has blown up from Texas. Rosser said the publication’s physical release schedule is still being decided. The Cougar is currently identifying additional locations outside the high school to distribute the publication. Ausseresses, the Association’s financial advisor, said they are currently trying to place advertisements on the website through Google to raise money. Rosser said the group will be paying for the first print out of their own pockets. Setting up distribution within the high school originally had some issues. The discussion for distribution stands with administration had been ignored or met with resistance, Rosser wrote in an email. “Our administration has attempted to restrict our ability to distribute our publication, despite Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) affirming that students do not lose their First Amendment rights in school and Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier (1988) not applying to independent student publications,” Rosser wrote in an email. Chad Springer, associate superintendent of Athens City School District, said the school was not trying to violate the students’ rights but wanted to ensure its policy covered it. Previously, Associations have tried to distribute flyers and informative letters in the school, which is not allowed. “It was kind of different to have an outside student publication asking to
The outside of Athens High School in The Plains, March 16, 2025. (ALAINA DACKERMANN | DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY)
be distributed in school,” Springer said. “Generally, we usually get summer camps and these opportunities at OU for kids. I had to dig deep into our policy … Since we’ve allowed the Athens NEWS to be distributed at school, we would treat this no different than that one.” For the Atomic Cougar to be allowed to distribute in the school, the publication must still follow the school’s guidelines, and the school is not allowed to endorse it as it is a separate entity. However, Springer said he is excited to see young, motivated individuals. “I applaud students for going out and for creating something on their own,”
Springer said. “I’m pretty excited that we have a group of students who are motivated to do things like this.” Rosser said he is looking forward to presenting students with a new, unique option for news that is led by young individuals with different views on the topics they cover. “This is a new topic and a new adventure for us,” Rosser said. “We offer a different perspective that’s different than some of our older and traditional news sources.” @DREWHJOURNALIST DH384223@OHIO.EDU