Insights on Appalachian Culture at Ohio University

In the foot hills of the Appalachian Mountains is Ohio University located in Athens, Ohio. The area is a collection of scholars, students, and locals that are all susceptible to the cultural values of Appalachian peoples. We decided to interview a variety of people that are involved on campus at Ohio University to get their opinions and thoughts on the Appalachian setting and to see how living/working in Athens has shaped their own values.

Brandon Chestnut is a sophomore at Ohio University who majors in Computer Science and Mathematics. He has obtained the Urban Scholars award from the university so; although he is not from the Appalachian region he has frequent contact with the Appalachian scholars and the community.

Q: Where is Appalachia?

A: The Southern Ohio Valley

Q: What does it mean to live here?

A: It means making a life within the means of the poorest region in Ohio. He believes that the mentality of some of the people that live in this community is a little behind the times. The way that the Appalachian community handles issues like race relations are not as advanced or accepting of diversity as other regions. Living in Appalachia also stresses a very southern and country lifestyle according to him.

Q: How does Appalachian culture affect life at OU?

A: It influences some of the organizations on campus. Clubs like Future Women if Appalachia are directly tied to advancing the traditions and values of women that come from this community. The culture also influences student’s opportunity to participate in community service with events like Athens Beautification Day. The culture of the region is also reflected in the value that OU students place on the fests because it encompasses a lot of the ways that Appalachian people congregate for a good time.

Q: Did OU being in Appalachia influence your decision?

A: Yes. He was attracted to the landscape and the beauty of the campus. Also, as a part of his scholarship is a strong interaction with Appalachian representative in the scholarship community.

Q: Do you consider yourself Appalachian? Why?

A: No. He doesn’t think that he was raised under Appalachian cultural values and he has a different level of social consciousness.

Q: Do you think that OU has a strong relationship with the area? How could the university encourage communication with the Athens area?

A: There is a lack of effort on OU’s part to make a real relationship with Appalachia. They are taking steps through the Appalachian Scholars opportunities and organizations/ programs like Athens Beautification Day. To encourage growth the university should strive to not be complacent.

Eric Tiu is a freshman video production student at Ohio University. He resides in the town of Waverly, Ohio located in Pike County, part of the Appalachian region. His time spent growing up in Waverly gives him a first hand experience of Appalachian culture and the people that embrace it.

Q: Do you identify yourself with the Appalachian region?

A: Yes, I identify myself with the Appalachian region based on geography but I don’t identify myself culturally. This is probably because both of my parents aren’t from the Appalachian area.

Q: Was there any advantages in growing up in the Appalachian region?

A: I would say that the greatest advantage of living in the Appalachian region is that I am more aware of American poverty than most upper-middle class suburban citizens. It gives me a better perspective of the economic troubles of this country.

Q: Does the hillbilly stereotype really exist in your area?

A: There are definitely people that I would classify as “hicks.” As a matter a fact I use to call our county fair “hick fest.” There are the kids at my high school who wear the boots everyday with the cut-off tee-shirt from some bible camp they attended in 5^th grade that still fits who go out to their raised trucks with their confederate flag stickers in the rear window who sit in the bed after school and chew tobacco and talk shit about stupid stuff because that is all they are intellectually capable of. So yes, I do believe that the hillbilly stereotype exists.

Q: Do you think that this is a bad thing?

A: Stereotypes exist because they are partially based on truth but whether that truth is good or bad is up to the individual. It’s a simple lifestyle but I definitely wouldn’t want to live it. A big thing in my county is social programs like welfare that hand out money to residents who manipulate the system.

Q: Would you consider “solid work ethic” to be a characteristic of the Appalachian culture?

A: Yes I do think that because I know a lot of valued and honest people who I might consider hicks that have work extremely hard. Some of my peers who I graduate with are going to heating and cooling trade schools and they will be pulling in around 75,000 dollars with no college education because they are going to put in the hard work for their money. But I would associate that trait to the person and not the culture.

Q: Would you ever consider raising a family in Appalachia?

A: No, just because I’ve lived it and I’ve grown up there. I want to go out and experience new things and places where as some people want to stay put in one spot where a lot of their family grew up.

Rebecca Mercado-Thornton is a graduate professor in the Scripps College of Communication as well as a Communications Studies doctoral candidate. She places a high value on being involved in the Appalachian community and implements those values into her classes. Her dissertation was actually on the lives of women in Appalachian communities.

Q: What are your thoughts on Appalachia and what it means to live here?

A: A major part of living in Appalachia has to do with a deep-rooted relationship and appreciation for the land. She spoke of many hallmarks of living in Detroit and the urban community that it is a part of. She believes that Appalachian culture includes hallmarks that you can only do in this specific community. Living in Appalachia means having different (sometimes limiting) aspirations from other cultures and this produces a very urban/rural divide. She also mentioned having a big appreciation for familial identities.

Q: In what way does Appalachian culture influence life at OU?

A: There is a very strong disconnect between the academic and residential communities.  She spoke a long time about how students on this campus can go all four years without leaving campus and really experiencing all that Appalachian community has to offer. She thinks there is a reciprocal relationship of how students view “townies” and how local people view students. While we separate and stereotype them, they are just as resistant to making relationships with students because they understand how they are stereotyped. She defines this as “localized xenophobia”.

Q: What is the value of becoming more aware of Appalachian culture?

A: Try to care.  Make a four-year investment in your neighbors. Be conscious of the fact that the university is systematically wasteful even though Athens is poverty stricken.

Q: How do you interpret Appalachia and why?

A:  The ability to live off of the land is huge! Appalachia also emphasizes the same values that America in general has of self-reliance and individualism as well as strong (and stubborn) wills.

Q: Do you consider yourself Appalachian? Why/Why not?

A: No. Although she is committed to the community she will always be an outsider and considered an outsider to those that really belong to the community. She is very involved but doesn’t believe that she can take the steps to call this place home.

Q: Do you feel that the university has a good standing relationship with the surrounding area? How could OU encourage better communication with the Athens area?

A: No. She phrased the relationship between OU and Athens County as “systematically, institutionally, and politically fucked up”.  She used the example of how there are university employees that live in the Appalachian area and can send their children to school for free, but OU doesn’t even think highly enough to send recruiters anywhere in Athens County school systems. She talked about how OU tries to essentially pat itself on the back for valuing diversity but doesn’t produce, or make efforts to produce an authentically diverse community racially, socio-economically, or culturally. OU needs to at least require more students to serve in the community of Athens to get a greater understanding and appreciation of the Appalachian community.  

Hopefully these answers provide insight to how people who are part of Ohio University think about the environment of Athens and other Appalachian communities as well as the Appalachian culture. It was interesting to see how stereotypes fit some people that identify with Appalachian culture where others did not as well as the relationship between Ohio University and the people of Athens. Further education and promotion of Appalachian culture will hopefully close the gap between students of Ohio University and the community of Athens.  

-Adrienne Green and Jarrod Dowalter