Hundreds of people gathered at Peden Stadium on Thursday afternoon to exercise their First Amendment rights and protest Ohio University's lack of communication about and compliance Ohio Senate Bill 1 and President Trump’s "Dear Colleagues Letter
Ohio’s SB 1 is a ban on all diversity, equity and inclusion programs in public colleges, which would ultimately strip the college influence on student political views, according to the Associated Press. “Dear Colleagues Letter,” written by Trump and the Department of Education on Feb. 14, urges schools and universities, like OU, to stop treating people differently based on one’s race.
The Multicultural Student Organization Coalition, the Black Student Cultural Programming Board, the OU Recruitment Society and the Black Student Union called on students, faculty and community members to oppose those policies and call for OU to inform students on what will happen from the legislation, according to a press release from the groups.
“This lack of communication is a disservice to the community the university serves and reflects on the leadership of the university,” the press release said.
The protest started at 1:15 p.m. with a class walkout, and students made their way to Peden Stadium. By 1:30 p.m., hundreds of students, carrying signs demanding change and T-shirts with their organizations that will be affected by the legislation, gathered on the lawn of Walter Hall.
"We have a big LGBTQ+ community, and I have seen my transgender peers be directly affected by the bathroom bills that are being passed and even the housing situations that are kind of being talked about, but not really being directly explained to students,” Laila Christian, a sophomore majoring in musical theater, said. “I think that it's really important to just get transparency to students about what is going to be done.”
The protest started at Peden Stadium and ended in front of Cutler Hall on College Green, where the OU President Lori Stewart Gonzalez occupies her office along with the Provost and other senior administrative offices.
When the crowd arrived in front of Cutler, they started chanting “come outside,” and “lousy Lori,” encouraging the president to engage with the protest. At one point, someone with a megaphone said, “The university was quiet, but Sherman came outside,” referring to the act of discrimination that happened in 2022.
“Clearly this is something that not just students care about, but it's something that has an effect on the student body, so the least I can do right now is be here and show my support for them,” Johnny Susany, treasurer of Student Senate and senior majoring in political science, said. “I'm very proud of the community for showing up and showing out and staying up for what they believe in.”
"End the Silence" protesters rally against Ohio Senate Bill 1 outside Peden Stadium in Athens, Feb. 27, 2025.
Students from programs such as the Women, Gender, Sexuality studies are fearing the removal of the major at OU.
“Our intention is to continue doing our work until and if it becomes completely impossible, certainly in the dark of night, I lose sleep, but I certainly also am committed,” associate WGSS professor Patricia Stokes said. “I tend to continue doing the work as open heartedly and with as much sort of open mind and invitation to be open minded to my students as I possibly can for as long as I can.”
Among the many signs seeking change, one sign that caught Stokes’s eye read “DEI builds bridges, SB1 tears bridges down.”
“I think this is an idea in the outside world that DEI is about putting people in silence, and at its worst, it could be if done badly,” Stokes said. “That's not what's happening here.”
Associate professor of English Joe McLaughlin was also in attendance at the protest and told his students that if enough of them went, he would go too.
“I think this is a very important cause, some of the politicians in Columbus who voted against this are calling this the destruction of the Higher Education Act, I think that's right,” McLaughlin said. “I think it's going to be very difficult for universities in Ohio to continue to recruit good faculty and good students.”
