Though the tents are gone, those who occupied Ohio University throughout last week will continue their movement.
Tyler Barton, a senior studying chemistry who helped organize the Occupy OhioU events, said overall the week went well.
“I was impressed by the unspeakable will of people to stay out in the rain, wind and deal with all the heckling from the past week,” he said. “Some people didn’t like that we were out there and would mainly drive by and yell insulting things. But overall, we responded well together.”
Occupy OhioU was an Athens localization of the Occupy Wall Street protests taking place during the past month. The demonstrators hoped to bring the New York City protestors’ complaints of big government and corporate greed to OU’s campus.
The protest drew its highest numbers Tuesday, with about 30 students spending the night at the occupation site at the top of Morton Hill. After the cold and rain inundated the latter half of the week, numbers dwindled to about 10, Barton said.
Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi and Ohio University Police Chief Andrew Powers had the majority of contact with the protest organizers and approved their use of the old Oasis dining-facility site.
Occupy OhioU was the first in Ohio to base its demonstration around the college and not the city it resides in, Barton said.
“The name Occupy OhioU was chosen over Occupy Athens because it is specifically targeting institutions we deem to be undemocratic, and the university is an undemocratic institution,” he said.
The occupiers ended last week’s events with a walk to Chase Bank on Court Street, where students tried to close their accounts. However, many were unable to because of transactions in process, Barton said.
“It’s great to see a group of students listen and pay close attention to external issues and become this engaged,” said Becky Watts, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis.
Though not set in stone, Barton said he plans to have demonstrations that could address student activism in the university, the student-trustee selection process and more.
“The important thing to understand from this occupation is that it is one of many things,” Barton said. “It is one demonstration of a movement, and a movement can take place over several years. Change takes a long time.”
af234909@ohiou.edu
