Correction appended. Update appended.
Students arriving on campus this weekend may have noticed banners containing lewd and suggestive phrases hanging from houses.
The signs have been attracting attention on social media since at least Thursday night, including one sign that read “You taught her morals, we’ll teach her oral.” A picture of that sign received about 35,000 likes on the Instagram page for Barstool Sports, a sports and men’s lifestyle blog.
Ohio University get it together and stop this #1in5women #nomeansno pic.twitter.com/PIuDtIeKFe
— Ashley Young (@_AshlyMarie_) August 19, 2016
By Friday night there were about six signs hanging on Mill Street, and about three on Congress.
Social media users reported signs that contained statements like: “Hillary sux (sic), Monica blows, hbu,” “We’ll let you call us Mommy if you let us call you Daddy,” and “Tits out for Harambe.”
@123_MillStreet omggg I love this!!!
— Janey DeMaria (@JDeMaria08) August 19, 2016
On Friday night, Athens Police Department Chief Tom Pyle said such signs violate the city’s Code of Ordinances, which states that all signs being displayed in Athens have to be approved by the city, no matter what the message.
Pyle didn't cite a specific number, but he said the police had to make "a bunch" of houses take signs down. He added that nearly all the houses hosting parties on Mill Street, including those with signs, were breaking city code in one form or another.
"This just got out of control," Pyle said.
Shannon Altenbach, an Ohio University student, reported on Twitter that she and her roommates received a warning from the city about a sign in front of her house that read, “Our couches pull out but freshman (sic) don’t have to.”
“When your house gets famous for a hot second but your landlord ruins it,” she said on Twitter.
When your house gets famous for a hot second but your landlord ruins it pic.twitter.com/1go7r7X1iy
— shann altenbach (@shannaltenbach) August 19, 2016
Altenbach would not comment to The Post.
In a campus-wide email Tuesday, OU President Roderick McDavis expressed his disappointment over the signs displayed off campus.
"We are better than this, Bobcats!" McDavis said in the email. "I have said it before and I will say it again — words are powerful!"
Students typically hang up signs on busy weekends, such as Welcome Weekend and weekends during fest season, some of which have prompted calls to the Athens Police Department in past years. A sign from High Fest in 2014 reading “No means yes, and yes means anal” in particular received more attention — and outrage — according to a previous Post report.
Madison Gambill, a freshman studying pre-medicine said the signs she saw were “really funny,” but didn’t reference a specific one.
Corbin Bagford, a senior studying journalism, said there is a “fine line” between creativity and inappropriateness. Bagford said he recalled his parents being “appalled” by some of the signs they saw when they drove him to Athens as a freshman.
"I think people are going for the shock value,” Bagford said.
@norajaara
nj342914@ohio.edu
Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled Corbin Bagford's name. The article has been updated to show the most accurate information.
Update: A quote from OU President Roderick McDavis has been added to the article.
