My name is Sydney Epps, Ph.D.,—Ohio University alumna BA, BSJ '12, former student senator and a doctoral-level expert in organizational behavior. I am writing directly to current students and the current editorial staff at The Post because I am watching Ohio University repeat a pattern the campus already lived through: calling equity “controversial,” calling retreat “neutral” and calling it all “compliance.”
I have seen this fight before — up close — during the 2009-10 academic year, and the archives show it.
I am referring to the wave of halts to generational programs, like the Ohio Black Alumni Weekend and the Celebrate Women Conference, as well as the removal of many safe spaces that drew me to OU, such as the Women's Center, Pride Center and Multicultural Center.
As a mentee of the great Francine Childs, Ph.D., I find these eliminations an affront to a woman who poured her life into Athens and OU for more than 30 years; her accomplishments being dashed by the first female president in less than a year show how easy it is to deliberately destroy work built to expand student experiences. It is quite lazy to rest one's impact in dismantling.
I am a native of Philadelphia and was admitted to OU for the 2007-08 school year as a King-Chavez-Parks scholar. OU was not, by any sense of the word, my dream school; I was sought after. I attended because of this scholarship, which made an Appalachian institution I'd never heard of before relatively appealing.
It remains the worst educational experience of my life. As a first-generation college student, I left OU with two degrees and pursued several others from far higher-ranked institutions afterwards. Coming from a historically illustrious high school, I was admitted for merit and supported through an admirable diversity equity and inclusion-based program, but worked daily for every dollar invested, and more, as a sounding board for world-majority and LGBTQIA+ students.
During my time at OU, the need for DEI programming was not theoretical. I was targeted in my first-year residence hall for being the only Melanin-rich resident in my 4th-floor Jefferson Hall section; I was robbed by my wealthy first roommate and relocated to a single room down the hall. Then had my room door carved into an X, my lights turned off perpetually as I showered and was left out of group activities.
My resident advisor, who steadfastly defended me, was fired. I almost left OU. It motivated me to become a student leader, first as an RA, then as a tutor and an active member of multiple organizations such as Hip Hop Congress, WOUB Radio, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., National Pan-Hellenic Council, etc.
There were multiple blackface incidents on campus, including a heinous "I Have a Dreamsicle" Greek party on MLK Day, Halloween incidents galore that resulted in a "My Culture is Not a Costume" campaign and a blackface skit in October 2009 regarding Oprah, during a series called “Fridays Live.”
Student media choices helped shape the climate around those incidents. In February 2010, I highlighted a threat against Black students at Hocking College that was found on a wall and was downplayed by the university. In that same period, my name appeared next to my submission about two organizations clearing the air regarding Homecoming representation, showing how quickly OU has always been willing to fan race-based tension instead of confronting harm directly. In that context, I worked with the Senate to defund student media for supporting or publishing racist content and for contributing to a hostile environment. That was not censorship. That was governance and basic risk management.
Student money is not owed as a blank check to any outlet that normalizes racism and then expects the campus to fund the damage. I then served on the 2010 Homecoming Steering Committee. There was never enough time to complain without action, and I exhausted myself pushing back against ignorance from students backed by complacency, at best, and deliberate aggressions from faculty and staff.
Now, look at what OU is willing to cut in 2026. Students are dealing with funding cuts to centers that kept me at OU, dismantling its Division of Diversity and Inclusion, eliminating 21 filled and vacant positions, and workers are dealing with layoffs, including the WOUB media staff layoffs in January 2026.
The message is clear: the university will sacrifice workers, and it will sacrifice values of equity, then call it responsibility. That is not leadership. That is cost shifting, image management and institutional retreat.
The administration is also using the shifting legal landscape as cover. On Feb. 6, 2026, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed federal anti-DEI executive orders to proceed. That decision does not require OU to abandon inclusive excellence, and it does not require leaders to dismantle support systems for students, faculty and staff. Employers have always had to operate their DEI programs in compliance with anti-discrimination laws, and most existing DEI programs do not inherently violate anti-discrimination laws.
When the university chooses to roll back DEI faster and further than the law requires, that is compliance by choice.
Students should also know that my name is not new to this conversation. I appear in the archives of The Post because this work was public then, and it is public now. The record shows what student leadership looks like when it is willing to name harm and move resources accordingly.
So here is the challenge.
To the Lori Stewart Gonzalez administration: stop using legal uncertainty as a shield. If OU claims inclusive excellence, then act like it. Make choices that protect people, not just budgets and political comfort.
To students and student media: do not wait for permission to do the right thing. Document what is happening. Ask who benefits. Ask who pays. Use your platforms to tell the truth, and do not normalize the dismantling of equity under a new label.
I left OU on June 9th, 2012, and have never returned because it robbed me of a safe and fulfilling college experience. When the Alumni Association calls for donations, I share my experiences. OU has been here before. The only question is whether the campus learns from its history, or repeats it with better public relations.
Respectfully,
Sydney Epps, Ph.D.Doctoral-level Expert in Organizational Behavior | Educator & Principal Consultant Epps Educational Consulting, LLC e2c.carrd.co
