RIT in the news: Who’s your daddy?

I dare say that, by all accounts, Whitney Tressel’s absence from classes today is excusable. The third-year advertising photography student in RIT’s School of Photographic Arts and Sciences is in Arizona, where she will take in tonight’s BCS Championship Game. Ohio State and Florida will battle it out for college football supremacy.

Now, while many sports lovers may be jealous of Whitney’s good fortune, understand that she has an “in.” Whitney’s dad is Jim Tressel, coach of the undefeated Ohio State Buckeyes. That’s why her story has less to do with love of sports than it does with love of family.

John Follaco first introduced the Tressels to most of us here at RIT in a story he wrote last month for . Today, the rest of the Rochester community learned about RIT’s connection to tonight’s game through a front-page article that appeared in the Democrat and Chronicle.

So, why would the daughter of one of America’s most celebrated football coaches come to a university that lacks a football program? Well, the fact that she’s a photography major probably says plenty, but she also enjoys escaping much of the hype that comes with her father’s high-profile vocation. And, as you will read in the article, Coach Tressel is very impressed with RIT.

So, who’s your daddy? For Whitney, if all goes well tonight, he’s a two-time national champion. Not too shabby, sports fans!