Hundreds of Ohio University students gathered on College Green on Thursday for a walkout protesting what organizers described as administrative inaction on student and faculty concerns. Two students were later taken into custody by the Ohio University Police Department and released.
The walkout, “Your Disrespect Is Visible,” part of a larger week of action called “The Students Stand United,” was organized by the Ohio Student Association alongside Students for Justice for Palestine, Black Panther Party Legacy, Amnesty International and several other groups.
The demonstration began at noon at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument, where speakers addressed the crowd and outlined concerns, including Senate Bill 1, immigration enforcement, United Academics of Ohio University negotiations and a student referendum on university transparency.
“The OU administration does not want students to have a seat at the table, but we will pull up our own chairs,” a press release from OSA stated. “The students stand united, and we will create change.”
Organizers framed the protest as the culmination of advocacy efforts throughout the academic year.
“This walkout is really a culmination of all of our efforts for the entire school year,” Tylar Ayers, vice president of OU’s OSA chapter, said. “We’ve been dealing with a lot of complex issues regarding Senate Bill 1, our ‘ICE Out’ demands from earlier this semester, as well as supporting the faculty union and the referendum that passed through Student Senate. It’s been a year of inaction from the university … this is like our year in review,”
Speakers repeatedly criticized university leadership and its response to student concerns.
“Where is our president?” Tess Warren, secretary of OSA and speaker, said. "It should not take a social media campaigner a walk-out to secure a meeting with her. Lori Stewart Gonzalez, you may be president of Ohio University, but you are not a Bobcat.”
Warren emphasized the role of students, faculty and community members in defining the university.
“Ohio University is not the administration, Ohio University is not the excuses and the inaction, Ohio University is not the buildings, it is not the finals, it is not the homework,” Warren said. “Ohio University is the students … Ohio University is the faculty and Ohio University is the community. It is us that make us the real Bobcat family. We will fight, and we will win.”
AJ Jones, president of Black Panther Legacy, also addressed the crowd, referencing a sit-in earlier in the week protesting Senate Bill 1 and the removal of the Multicultural Center.
“I know many of you have a lot to say about Lori Gonzalez— I don’t have a single thing to say about that woman… I don’t even think she’s real,” Jones said. “Students stand here scared of deportation, scared of violence, scared of war, scared of erasure, scared of being silenced and yet Lori sits there, silent herself.”
Emily Nabozny, a senior studying outdoor recreation education and recreation management, spoke about what she described as a lack of relationship between students and university leadership.
“It feels like there's a lack of (relationship) going on,” Nabozny said. “There’s been protests going on all week, and they’re going to continue to go on. This has been going on all semester, and there’s nothing that’s really come from it.”
As the demonstration continued, chants and songs echoed across College Green while speakers from multiple organizations reiterated concerns about transparency, ongoing legal challenges involving the faculty union and the administration’s response to immigration enforcement issues.
Emma Sergent, a student protestor, said she hopes the walkout encourages larger student engagement.
“I hope people … feel more empowered and realize there are things we can do,” Sergent said. “There is so much power in walkouts like this or sharing things on social media. Also, I hope it gets people to see, if they aren’t educated on everything going on in the world, that there is so much going on.”
Following the speeches, protestors marched across campus toward Walter Hall, where a Board of Trustees meeting was underway.
Demonstrators chanted, “No justice, no peace, we the students run these streets,” as they moved through Baker University Center, stopped outside Grover Center, where some protesters placed black duct tape over their mouths, and then continued to Walter Hall.
Some entered the meeting while others remained in a nearby lobby area.
Two students were taken into custody by officers from OUPD, according to a previous report by The Post. A small group of student organizers and protestors walked to the police department.
Both students were released from custody, and it is unclear whether charges have been filed.
“Campus police rushed to disperse student attendees overflowing into the hallway, resulting in the arrest of two students,” a press release from OSA following the arrests stated. “These consequences would have been avoided if President Stewart Gonzalez had broken her silence and met with us. All students wanted was a meeting with their president.”
