PROFILE OF THE HERITAGE COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE
Established by act of the Ohio General Assembly in 1975, the Heritage College of
Osteopathic Medicine was created to help alleviate the state’s growing shortage of family
physicians and to train doctors for chronically underserved areas of the state. Its first class of
24 students began their studies in Athens in the fall of 1976.
Since that time, the Heritage College has grown dramatically, training more than 3,500
physicians who are working in communities throughout Ohio and beyond with some of
the greatest health care needs. In 2014, the medical school opened its Dublin campus with
generous support from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation award, Vision 2020: Leading
the Transformation of Primary Care in Ohio, and in partnership with OhioHealth. Just a year
later, the college opened its third campus in Cleveland in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.
Today, the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine is a leader in training
primary care physicians and other critical physician specialists who are prepared to address
the most pervasive medical needs in the state and the nation. Forty-eight percent of Heritage
College alumni practice in primary care specialties and 58 percent practice in Ohio.
ACADEMIC HERALDRY
The caps, gowns and hoods worn today in these Commencement Exercises are patterned
after the attire of monks and students in the Middle Ages. Those possessing the doctoral
degree wear gowns with broad velvet panels down the front and three velvet bars on the
full, round, open sleeves. This velvet trimming is usually black, but can be hunter green,
which is distinctive to the field of osteopathic medicine. Most of the color and meaning
of the costume is found in the hood. These are silk-lined with the colors of the institution
conferring the degree. As can readily be observed, the official colors of Ohio University
are green and white. The border of the hood is velvet, and its color signifies the field of
learning to which the degree pertains.
CEREMONIAL MACE
For centuries, the mace has been used as a symbol of authority. Though it originated as a
club-like weapon, in the middle ages a modified and less practical mace came to signify
royal power. Over time, civic and then university officials also adopted maces ornamented
with their own coats of arms. Today, the ceremonial maces carried in procession represent
the authority of monarchs, legislatures, and universities around the world.
The late David R. Klahn, professor of art, designed the Ohio University Ceremonial Mace.
It is modeled after one of the balustrades of an original stairway of Cutler Hall, the oldest
building in use on the campus, and the University’s main administrative building. Cast in
bronze, the mace is 46” long and weighs 16 pounds. It features the University seal and a
stylized representation of the Cutler Hall cupola.
The mace is carried and displayed during official ceremonies at Ohio University,
including Commencement.
THE SEAL OF OFFICE
Worn by the president at official Ohio University functions, the Seal of Office also was
designed by Professor Klahn. Fabricated of silver and bronze, the primary medallion
features a silhouette of Cutler Hall, the date of Ohio University’s founding (1804), and the
words, “OHIO’S FIRST UNIVERSITY.” The secondary medallion at the back of the chain is the
University Seal. Smaller medallions, replicas of the two center portions of the University
Seal, are interspersed alternately with the chain’s links. The Seal of Office was created for
the inauguration of President Robert Glidden in 1994 and has been passed on to future
presidents of Ohio University.
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