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YSU students unhappy with Meshel Hall plan
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
About 30 students filed into the Youngstown State University trustees meeting Wednesday to show their opposition to a plan to move some computer-science labs and classrooms out of Meshel Hall.
Their red T-shirts were emblazoned with an image of Meshel Hall and “We need ALL ... of Meshel Hall” on the front.
Girard senior Jordan Vigorito was one of the students wearing the shirt. He’s a human-resources major but works in the computer-science area.
“We have very limited space, and now they’re proposing to cut it back and limit it,” he said.
When it was built in 1986, Meshel Hall was intended as an applied-science and high-technology facility, Vigorito said.
A proposal calls for computer science to move out of the first floor of Meshel and the journalism department to move in. Journalism moved from the English Department to the College of Creative Arts and Communication.
The building has been neglected, Vigorito said.
“It’s like stepping back in time,” he said. “The carpeting and the furniture haven’t been updated in 30 years.”
The students’ protest followed a Tuesday trustees Academic Quality and Student Success committee meeting, where Martin Abraham, provost and vice president for academic success, said the computer science/information systems classrooms and labs on Meshel Hall’s first floor will be relocated to a different building.
That drew criticism from Trustee Harry Meshel, who secured funding for the building when it was built in 1986. The hall, which was named for the retired state senator, was supposed to be a high-technology facility.
Meshel said the university has neglected the building for years and never capitalized on its intended purpose.
Trustees took no action on the plan, which doesn’t require board approval, but after Wednesday’s regular board meeting, Abraham met with students to answer their questions.
He called the move “right-sizing” and said the classrooms on the first floor of Meshel are smaller than what’s optimum for computer-science courses.
It’s undetermined where the computer-science labs and classrooms will move. About 400 students are enrolled in the department.
He also said that though YSU may have squandered the opportunity 30 years ago to develop the building, officials now need to identify a niche for YSU within the computer-science and information-systems fields.
He acknowledged the building has been neglected but said it’s not the only building on campus that has been. The university wants to update and improve its facilities, but funds are limited.
Wednesday was the last regular trustees’ meeting before the terms of Meshel, a retired state senator, and student Trustee Bryce Miner expire.
The board approved resolutions of appreciation for both men, but Meshel didn’t attend.
He walked out of Tuesday’s committee meeting in disgust and didn’t return the remainder of the day.
Carole Weimer, trustees chairwoman, said the board would miss Meshel’s presence around the trustees table and Trustee Ted Roberts said Meshel helped ensure checks and balances by trustees.
Meshel, a World War II veteran, earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Youngstown College – now YSU – graduating in 1949. He was appointed a YSU trustee by former Gov. Ted Strickland in 2007. Trustee terms are nine years.