Students venturing near the Harshman and Kresicher residence halls last week may have felt a little unwelcome.

The residence halls were occupied by 1,270 high school juniors who declared the east side of campus a Boy’s State.

However, Governor Bob Taft and more than 45 other state officials were welcomed with open arms, as the purpose of their visit was to help the boys run their state.

“It puts a face on state government, makes it a little bit more real,” Taft said.

The boys and the officials were participating in the Ohio American Legion’s Buckeye Boy’s State (BBS) program.

Started in Illinois in 1935 as a counter movement to the Fascist Party’s Young Pioneer Camps, the Boy’s State program is now held in all states but Hawaii.

The event, which has been held at the University since 1978, is a nine-day, hands-on experience in the operation of democratic governments at the state, county, and city levels.

The boys are elected to hundreds of imaginary positions, including governor, county commissioners, mayors, state highway patrol officers, municipal court judges, and many more.

There is even a BBS lottery commission, and a fully-staffed newspaper known as the Hetuck, which is Native American for “eye of the buck.”

The boys occupied those positions from the program’s start on June 12th until their graduation last Sunday.

During that time, many of the boys got a chance to meet, and learn from, their real counterparts.

According to BBS Director Gerald White, when BBS asks public officials to come to the program they ask them to do more than just visit. They ask them to educate.

BBS Gov. Frank Little got a chance to meet with Taft during his brief visit for a five minute one-on-one, when they discovered they had a lot in common.

“The governor here is interested in ethanol plants. We’re very interested in ethanol plants. We want to have one in Ohio, because we’re a big farm state and we ought to produce it here if we’re using it in our cars,” Taft said.

The governor believes the program produces excellent long-term leaders for Ohio.

“These students here learn more about local government and state government in a few days, than most students learn throughout their entire high school career,” Taft said.

Little, who later admitted he was a huge fan of Taft, was ecstatic.

“I really highly respect him for taking time out of his busy schedule just to meet with us high school kids who want to make a difference,” said Little, a student at Millford High School in Cincinnati.

During his visit, Taft also met with BBS branch, agency and department heads, and the staff of the Hetuck.

Other state officials, including several cabinet members and congressmen, also visited the Boy’s State and gave expert help to their counterparts in the program. Congressman Michael G. Oxley, a BBS Alumni, gave the graduation keynote speech, his 18th.

“Boys State brings back great memories for me. I was state representative for Suhr City and Konold County when I attended Boys State,” Oxley said.

The BBS Highway Patrol is chaired by officers and troopers of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, and they train the BBS officers in Ohio law, law enforcement, and the role of a police officer.

The BBS officers patrol the state’s roads, as well as the roads in each city. The state roads are chalked onto the sidewalks between the residence halls by the University grounds crew. The city roads are built by its citizens, using recyclable materials in the hallways of the residence halls.

On Friday, the Hetuck reported that a citizen of Leonard city had committed grand theft auto. The suspect had reportedly stolen his fellow citizen’s Dr. Martens.

Twenty of the BBS Highway Patrol Officers will go onto Junior Cadet Week at the Highway Patrol Training Academy in Columbus.

The BBS court section is given help from seven Ohio judges and attorneys, including assistant Wood County prosecutor Gary Bishop and Judge Richard Parrott of the Union County Common Pleas Court, who has helped the BBS courts for over 25 years.

The BBS attorneys and judges utilize an entire online law library through the Ohio State Bar Association.

Many famous and influential figures are alumni of the program, including Astronaut Neil Armstrong, and Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer.

The BBS city of Sklenicka, located in the third floor of Harshman-Chapman, saluted former citizen Keith M. Maupin, who was captured after his convoy was attacked outside of Baghdad on April 12th. He is listed as a POW-MIA.

As the program wound down on Friday, Sklenicka’s Mayor, Adam Foust, had a moment to reflect on what he had learned at the program.

I’ve learned that not just anyone can do anything…that you can’t underestimate a large group of committed people…and just to have fun, Foust, who is a student at Bellefontaine High School in Bellefontaine, said.