The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
Bill Johnson’s first week as Youngstown State University president is under his belt.
The former Republican Congressman’s last day in Congress representing 11 Eastern Ohio counties in the sixth congressional district was Jan. 21, and his first day as YSU’s president was Jan. 22 — earlier than his original March start date.
“This wasn’t something I was looking for, but YSU is an amazing institution with an incredible legacy of producing top quality graduates for the workforce needs of our region and beyond,” Johnson recently wrote in an opinion piece for the Canton Repository. His annual salary at YSU is $410,000.
Johnson spent much of his time last week meeting with faculty, staff and students, university spokesperson Rebecca Rose said in an email.
“These immersion meetings will continue in the coming weeks,” she said. “He is working hard to engage with all areas across campus to encourage an environment of collaboration and mutual respect in order to move YSU forward.”
The YSU Board of Trustees appointed Johnson to be the university’s president at the end of November — sparking outcry from students, faculty and alumni.
Actor Ed O’Neil plans to return the honorary doctorate he received from YSU in 2013 back to the university.
“I was so disappointed when I heard about this decision,” he recently said on MSNBC. “It’s a slap in the face to all of us.”
O’Neil, who is best known for his roles in “Married with Children” and “Modern Family,” said he was once proud of his honorary degree, but not anymore.
“It doesn’t mean anything to me now,” he said.
Three Youngstown State University Board of Trustees previously donated thousands of dollars to Republican Ohio U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson’s Congressional campaign — the candidate the trustees recently appointed to be the 10th YSU president.
The board of trustees did not publicly name the other finalists or have them meet with university students and staff.
“The thing that is really still the main issue here, regardless of him, and his politics is the fact that the board did this behind everybody’s backs,” said Rose McClurkin, a senior at Youngstown State University studying political science.
She helped organize a walkout on campus for Johnson’s first day. About 50-60 people walked from Tod Hall, where the president’s office is, to the Pollak House, where Johnson lives and “made some noise,” she said.
McClurkin wants the university to adopt a policy that requires community, student and faculty input before the next president is chosen.
“We don’t want to see this kind of lack of transparency happen again,” she said.
Mark Vopat, the president of Youngstown State University’s Chapter of the Ohio Education Association, and other members of the executive committee had an hour-long meeting with Johnson last week.
“We had just a very open conversation about our concerns, our concerns with him and his experience or lack thereof,” Vopat said. “We had concerns about the future of the university and the vision and where it’s going, and what his emphasis will be.”
Johnson, who does not have a doctorate degree, gave answers but not a lot of specifics, Vopat said.
“We’re in a holding pattern,” Vopat said. “Let’s wait and see how things go.”
Johnson’s politics
Johnson, 69, is a Trump ally and has already backed Trump’s presidential bid. He objected to the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election on Jan. 7, 2021, and voted in line with Trump’s position 96.8% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.
“He’s a polarizing guy,” O’Neil said on MSNBC. “I mean, an election denier, he’s not the biggest fan of the gay community. He’s anti-choice.”
Vopat hopes Johnson can leave his politics at the door as the university’s president.
“That’s one of the things that is a concern,” he said. “He told us in the meeting that that was his intention. … I’d say I’m cautiously optimistic.”
Johnson served more than 26 years in the U.S. Air Force and was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010.
A primary election to fill Johnson’s seat is on March 19, and a general election will take place on June 11.
Five candidates are running for Johnson’s seat — three Republicans and two Democrats: State Sen. Michael Rulli of Salem, state Rep. Reggie Stoltzfus of Paris Township, Rick Tsai, Michael L. Kripchak and Rylan Z. Finzer.
Follow OCJ Reporter Megan Henry on X.
