Joseph A. Alutto
Interim President, Interim Executive Vice President and Provost

As the chief academic officer, I am pleased to welcome you and your families to The Ohio State University community.

Ohio State is a wonderfully diverse, international university with amazing resources. We are large enough to provide an enormous and comprehensive array of excellent educational opportunities — more than 12,000 courses and 174 majors — including real-life research experiences with world-class faculty. In addition to our academic offerings, we have more than 800 student organizations in which you can be active and from which you can derive experiences to last a lifetime.

We are large, it is true. Yet, we are also small enough to be a community that feels like a home away from home. You will find opportunities to connect not only with the University’s strong and growing Latin@ community but also with our local, national, and international community of faculty, students and staff from more than 130 countries around the world.

I invite you and your families to explore our website at http://www.osu.edu to get a sense of the scope of opportunities that are here for you at The Ohio State University.

And a special thanks to ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? for the outstanding work that it does throughout the year!



Martha M. Garland
Vice Provost and Dean
Enrollment Services and Undergraduate Education

The Ohio State University is extremely happy that you are reading this issue of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?, our quarterly magazine directed to enrolled or prospective Hispanic/Latin@ students. We believe that Ohio State is a warm and welcoming institution, with an enormous range of academic options for talented students from across the United States and around the world. And we pride ourselves on being a university that values all kinds of diversity, knowing that preparation for life in the 21st century increasingly requires all of us to understand and value the contributions made by folks from a very wide range of backgrounds. We reinforce this commitment to diversity by encouraging all of our students to study in at least one program outside the United States and to become fluent in a non-English language (you may already have an advantage on this second goal!). Throughout this issue of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU?, you will learn of many of the programs that we support are designed to make students feel at home, no matter how far they have come to get here.

The Ohio State University is a “Research I” institution, which means that our faculty are the scientists and scholars who are making discoveries and writing books that will dramatically influence the direction of civilization in the future. You will study with these professors, and you will have opportunities to work with them in labs and in libraries, so that you, too, will become discoverers of the future. Our expectations for our students are high. Our university slogan is “Do Something Great!” so when you enroll, plan to work hard. And then plan to accomplish wonderful things. We will believe in you, we will encourage you, and then we will have great pride in you as you go on to remarkable futures.


Mac A. Stewart
Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Vice Provost for Minority Affairs

I am grateful to the staff members of ¿Qué Pasa, OSU? for helping to build a sense of community among our Hispanic/Latin@ students and personnel here at Ohio State. Thanks to their work, and that of many others, the numbers of students from this heritage is growing. Even better news is that retention and graduation rates are rising, so the number of Hispanic/Latin@ alumni increases with every commencement ceremony.

Ohio State welcomes these changes, because we know that everyone benefits when diversity increases on our campuses. For more than 30 years our leadership has worked to support a course structure that would best prepare Ohio State students for success in the global community of the 21st century.

We continue to build toward that objective, through scholarships; through mentoring, tutoring, and specialized advising programs; and through cultural programming that encourages a campus-wide dialogue on diversity. I hope that the many readers of this issue will participate with us in the Office of Minority Affairs as we focus on our diversity goals.


Richard Hollingsworth
Vice President
Student Affairs

If you’re reading this, you are probably considering whether Ohio State would be the right college for you. Let me suggest some reasons why it might be exactly the right place for you to continue your education.

• Opportunities to succeed are limitless, which means there are enormous possibilities and lots of choices in academics, activities, organizations, experiences, and new friends.

• It’s friendly and welcoming. Despite the size of the student body, it’s easy to make new friends and connections with other students in your classes, residence hall or student organizations. Faculty and staff are supportive and committed to your success.

• Cultural and ethnic diversity are valued. There are Hispanic and Latin@ organizations, and numerous support staff, allies, major events, and several support offices where you can feel at home and share your culture with other students and members of the university community.

I hope you’ll seriously consider becoming a Buckeye. We’d love to have you join us!


Mabel G. Freeman
Assistant Vice President
Undergraduate Admissions and First Year Experience

I truly believe that The Ohio State University is a most remarkable place for learning not only because of our extensive academic and extracurricular opportunities but also because of our diverse community of faculty, staff, and students who share the expectation of success for each other.

While our national and international reputations continue to grow, we still understand that most important to our university are the people who come together everyday to make great things happen.

Our retention of freshmen returning for their second year in Autumn 2006 was a record high of 91.5 percent, indicative of a university that both attracts and supports bright and talented students.
Our first-year students participate in small freshman seminars taught by our most distinguished faculty; take advantage of study abroad experiences and undergraduate research opportunities; identify internships and co-op experiences that lead directly to careers following graduation; and make friendships that will last a lifetime.

Ohio State…a great place to be!