The Ohio State. That’s what those who work and attend the midwestern university ensconced in Columbus, Ohio call the school. As a midwesterner myself, I’ve always thought that the “The” was obnoxious. This has nothing to do with not being a fan of OSU and their sports programs, I couldn’t care less about that. It’s just that there’s a haughty, chesty aspect to that “The” in front of the school’s name. No other school that I know of adds that function word in front of their name. Only Ohio State does that. The implication is that they are the self-named gold standard. There’s little appeal to that additional word, especially when you don’t measure up.
Let’s be clear, Ohio State has not earned the “The.” From 1978 to 1998, the university employed a team doctor named Richard Strauss, who was nothing less than a sexual predator.
I became familiar with the story in 2018, when several former members of the Ohio State wrestling team came forward to speak of the abuse they fell victim to during their time on campus. The story would have made national news no matter what, but the revelation that the powerful GOP congressman Jim Jordan (representing Ohio’s 4th district) was the assistant coach of the OSU wrestling team from 1987 to 1994 took the scandal well beyond the state level.
Depending on one’s feelings about Jordan politically (full disclosure: I’m not a fan), often colored one’s response. Either he was a lying scoundrel or a man of integrity who would never tell a lie. For those in the first camp, Jordan’s weak, stammering denials didn’t change any minds. While Surviving Ohio State (produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov) does take Jordan to task in excruciating detail (at least for Jordan, anyway), what the film uncovers goes much deeper than Jordan.
The story of Doctor Strauss and Ohio State is one of institutional failure that goes well beyond looking the other way (although there’s plenty of that) and leans into abuse and criminality. I’m not just talking about the Doctor. The levels of complicit behavior are vast. Coaches, the Director of Sports Medicine, the Head of Student Services, and eventually the Ohio State Board of Trustees along with the University’s President are all guilty of covering up two decades of sexual assault that extended to rape.
“The” Ohio State was supposed to protect these young men; instead, the university ignored complaints without recording their existence, and in doing so, marred the college experience for many of their rank-and-file students, as well as their student athletes. It’s not an overstatement to say that it ruined lives and relationships. Even those that survived and recovered are forever changed, and not for the better.
The level of Doctor Strauss’s malfeasance extended further than the wrestling team. Strauss had access to the football team, the hockey team, and the fencing team, and sixteen teams in total. During his twenty-year run at OSU, only one coach stood up for the student athletes under their charge. That coach was Charlotte Remenyik, who led the men’s and women’s fencing teams. For years, she put in a reciprocal complaint against Strauss. Despite her diligent efforts, the most Remenyik could accomplish (aside from making the complaints part of the official record) was to convince Strauss to willingly withdraw as the fencing team’s doctor.
The recollections of what Strauss did to student athletes and non-athlete students are horrific. They went from fondling to taking multiple showers a day with student athletes to rape. I know many who are aware of the case wonder why these athletes didn’t stand up to Strauss and allow this wisp of a man to assault them. Surviving Ohio State diligently answers that question. Strauss held all the power. He decided whether an athlete could compete or not. He always ensured that his so-called “thorough” examinations were delivered one-on-one, creating a “he-said-he-said” level of deniability. If a student in this unprotected environment were to respond to Strauss’s invasiveness physically, they would risk losing their scholarship. There was also the factor of shame. A factor that should not be underestimated.
The seemingly mild-mannered Strauss was devious in his encounters with students. By creating a layer of plausible deniability and with no responsible supervision, he was a man unencumbered by decency. Strauss was known for performing a “hernia check” on athletes with injuries to their ears, shoulders, and feet. Strauss was often selective regarding whom he took advantage of. Young men from small, rural towns who had never had a hernia exam or even a physical were his target. This behavior continued unabated for twenty years. For his malfeasance, Strauss was never called to account. He was promoted, feted, and moved around. Almost like a Catholic Priest during the church’s scandalous years, covering up sexual assault via reassignment. Strauss was an open secret.
Anyone who pays attention knows that universities are essentially major corporations now, and their athletic departments are corporations within the parent company. Ohio State athletics brought in 1.2 billion dollars last year—a staggering sum. With that revenue comes a desire to protect the reputation of the school and the athletic department, even at the expense of the bodies and minds of the athletes who bring in that revenue. It’s a rigged game for the competitors. They are used up for as many as four years and then thrown away.
The coaches all knew. As did many above them. As cruelly unsupportive as the former wrestling head coach, Russ Hellickson, and his sidekick, Jim Jordan, were, so is the university. “The” Ohio State ignored, gaslit, and to this day denies all responsibility in the matter. They will not hold themselves to account. This outstanding documentary, so well assembled and directed by Eva Orner, aims to change that. I hope it succeeds.
Surviving Ohio State is not an easy sit, but it is a necessary one. While watching the film unveil the escalating horrors of Strauss and the University, one conclusion rang through my head like a mantra:
We should not love sports this much.
We should not love sports this much.
We should not.
Surviving Ohio State is available to stream now on HBOMAX
