Students, faculty and Athens residents met on College Green at noon on Thursday for a People’s Forum to discuss their concerns about Ohio University administration.
The forum was hosted by organizations, including the United Academics of Ohio University and OU Students for Justice in Palestine, and took place during a Board of Trustees meeting, which they said did not have a public comment section.
Before any discussions, organizers of the event and forum participants performed a satirical skit where people posed as trustees and OU administrators, including President Lori Stewart Gonzalez.
During the skit, attendees brought up questions or concerns regarding the university to the people impersonating OU administrators, who would then offer their responses.
Henry Turner, a board member for OU SJP, said the skit was loosely inspired by a concept known as The Theatre of the Oppressed.
“The goal is to get the audience to think about these things a little more critically,” Turner said. “So it's not necessarily to give the answers to the questions that we're asking, but it's to ask the questions, show a little bit of how this works in real life, and have the audience kind of come to their own conclusions.”
Turner said OU SJP wanted the forum to be interactive and not typical of a normal rally or protest.
“The skit came to be partly because the actual university administration response to things is so ridiculous that it's comedy in and of itself,” Turner said.
After the skit, a speech was given and then organizers provided slips of papers, referred to as bricks, with prompts to attendees who wrote their grievances with leadership, changes they want and what makes them feel heard.
Coordinators split participants into small groups and had discussions led by organizers about their bricks.
Courtney Koestler, a professor in the Patton College of Education, is a part of UAOU and serves on the bargaining team.
Koestler said an issue mentioned at the event was how the Board and the administration are not always responsive to the needs of students and faculty. Koestler wants to see university leadership listen and connect to people more.
“If they allow public comment, they could hear what people are worried about, or concerned about or invested in,” Koestler said. “If they would allow public comment, that would allow them to hear from the people that they serve, or that they should be serving.”
Koestler said she does not feel connected to the Board or the administration and characterized the way they have delayed union bargaining as “disheartening.”
“I think that when we don't feel valued, it's demoralizing,” Koestler said. “We're proud of our work, but when we don't feel valued, that’s difficult to want to put in all the hours and hours that we work.”
Amish Askri, an international and doctoral student in Patton, also participated in discussions about faculty salaries. Askri said he has had a great experience at OU, but has had to fight battles, including “supporting my faculty to have their basic right to unionize recognized.”
Askri said he attended the forum to show support for the faculty because it makes him feel like he belongs on campus.
“I think there has not been enough steps taken at the university level to make sure that international students feel safe in this campus and community,” Askri said. “And I think what has made me feel safe is not the administrative structure itself, but the friendships and connections I've built over the years.”
Additionally, Askri said he feels unsafe voicing concerns or opinions about the university as an international student.
“The moment you try to raise your voice on something that you deeply care about, there are all sorts of ways in which you can be policed and put under the radar,” Askri said.
After the break-out discussions, organizers and participants regrouped and shared key issues, ending on a note urging the university to give students a voice and treat faculty with respect.
Robin Wilson, an 84-year-old resident of Athens, was in attendance and said he is happy to see so much involvement from OU students regarding social issues. He said students have become more politically active since he moved to the city three years ago.
Wilson said he was inspired to attend the forum because he hopes OU becomes more of a democracy. He said as it stands now, it operates in an authoritarian style.
“I have a vision of the OU campus being allies with the community and really solving problems like the occupation of Palestine and the climate,” Wilson said.
