Guest Column: Who On Earth Would Name Their Campus Hotel After a Convicted Felon?

MZone reader MS ("The Wrestlin' Wolverine"), a U-M grad trapped behind enemy lines like regular contributor SiC, recently submitted this guest column.

The ad at the left is from a Columbus magazine. As you can see, the ad proclaims the Blackwell, as "Central Ohio's Premier Hotel and Conference Center." The ad goes on to say that the Blackwell Inn, which is part of the tOSU Business School, is located on "the campus of one of America's finest universities, The Ohio State University."

Well, that alone is humorous in itself. But it gets better...

The Blackwell Inn is named after Roger Blackwell, a long-time marketing professor in the tOSU Business School who is well-known nationally as a leading marketing expert and made a rather sizable contribution to tOSU ($7 million). Funny thing is, Blackwell doesn't teach at tOSU anymore. Why not, you ask? Because he is serving six years in another premier conference center in the Midwest - FEDERAL PRISON. You see, he forgot about obeying the law when it came to conquering the real world - most notably, he forgot that insider trading is a no-no on Wall Street, and if you do it and get caught, you just might end up in the pokey.

When Blackwell was convicted and sent off to the pokey in 2006, there was discussion that tOSU might drop the name of the Blackwell Inn since naming a university-owned campus hotel after a convicted felon doesn't exactly project the best image. But apparently money prevailed over ethics. Who knows, maybe tOSU officials didn't want to risk Blackwell rescinding his sizable contribution to the university so they decided to just roll with it. After all, what's wrong with having the campus hotel named after a convicted felon? Hell, it might even be considered a good omen - at least any future football felons would feel right at home at the team hotel the night before games. Maybe that's why our buddy Maurice ran so well against the Wolverines in 2002.

Blackwell isn't all that bad though. In 1991, he dumped his first wife of 31 years to marry his teaching aid, who was 25 years his junior. Nice work, if you can get it. Makes you want to go back to school and be a professor doesn't, it? Well, maybe not...

Unfortunately, his trophy wife got tired of him and divorced his ass in 2003. Then, she testified against him in his trial to help send him off to the pokey. Along the way, she was granted immunity, a $1 million divorce settlement, and found a new hubby - the chief executive officer of Federated Department Stores, who made in excess of $6.3 million in 2004, not including stock options.

No word yet on whether or not Maurice has become Blackwell's third wife. In any case, tough break, buddy.

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