International Student Union met with OU Police Chief Tom Pyle, university administrators and other student groups Tuesday to insure relations between the groups do not fray after last week’s ISIS threat.
The International Student Union and Ohio University officials are working to keep relations strong between the two parties after police alerted students of a potentially threatening social media post this weekend.
ISU members met with Ohio University Police Chief Andrew Powers, university administrators and other student groups Tuesday night to address concerns regarding a threatening social media post claiming to be related to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, commonly known as ISIS.
The post contained no specific threat, but simply referenced Ohio University, Powers said Friday.
The event, held at the Walter International Education Center, sought to provide a forum for international students and faculty members to share their thoughts on how the situation could affect them, and for OUPD officials to communicate the goals of their investigation.
“We are aware of the potential implications this could have for members of this community,” Powers said.
Powers said he was unable to share too much information with students regarding the progress of the investigation, but said OUPD will continue to be as open to the community as it can be.
“In this day and age, we don’t want to alarm people, but we want to be transparent about what we’re doing,” he said.
Powers said that the department is careful to vet any reports of suspicious activities that may have been motivated by prejudice. He said that in this case the department has not received any of those types of reports.
Laura Myers, chief of staff to Executive Vice President and Provost Pam Benoit, said university officials wanted to make sure international students did not receive any backlash from members of the student body who might associate them with ISIS.
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“All of our students are welcome here, and all of our students are an integral part of what we do at the university,” Myers said.
Representatives from the various organizations present, including the International Student Union and the Muslim Students Association, said they had not been notified of any negative experiences in response to the online post.
Powers said the investigation was not limited to Muslims or Arabic people, since the threat could have come from anyone.
“It’s important for people to understand ISIS is not just recruiting Arabic, Muslim or Middle Eastern people,” Powers said. “In this country it’s white males as much as anybody else.”
Administrators encouraged the students to discuss ways to help build the relationship among the the university, international students and domestic students.
“We need to understand how to communicate on your terms, as well,” Myers said.
Ideas included holding informational sessions in residence halls, an interfaith question and answer panel and cultural “flavors of the week” events at Baker Center.
“I don’t think that there’s only one great idea, that there’s only one approach,” Myers said.
Hashim Pashtun, president of the International Student Union, thought the meeting provided a good opportunity to consider the response to future events of a similar nature.
Pashtun said he spoke to OU President Roderick McDavis on Monday, who shared concern for the issue. Pashtun also expressed appreciation for the support and consideration of OU’s administration.
“When we say that we’re a Bobcat Family, we mean it, and we practice it,” Pashtun said.
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