Student Senate met Wednesday to pass a bill demanding bathroom locks in campus residence halls following an Ohio University Police Department investigation into an incident in which a female student was filmed by an unidentified male suspect in a residence hall shower.
The incident occurred Feb. 28 in Dougan House. The Housing and Residence Life Commission quickly put together a Senate bill after an online petition gained over 800 signatures before the meeting. Student Senate President Megan Handle introduced the bill prior to its passing.
The bill includes language about the need for change started by students following the incident through the petition and various social media posts in support of adding shower doors in all residence halls, not just renovated ones.
“Grant Us Privacy (the name of the petition): demands you put locks on all bathrooms to promote privacy and safety,” Handle said.
Residence Life Commissioner Mae Thomas spoke about the introduction of the bill, advocating for its passing. Thomas said some residence halls have already implemented this change, showing it is a possible initiative.
Women’s Affairs Senator Maggie Giansante served as a secondary sponsor on the bill, strongly advocating for the university to protect students.
“My opinion is this bill should not have been needed,” Giansante said. “Our university should add the protection and safety measures for our students to avoid situations like the one that happened.”
Giansante said she believes the university has neglected the responsibility of keeping students safe by allowing this situation to happen but she believes change is possible.
LGBTQIA+ Senator Kelsi Saunders serves as another secondary sponsor who also criticized the lack of protections for students using showers with curtains and no door locks. Saunders says she finds it upsetting that this incident happened.
“You kind of have to keep an ear out, an eye out to see if someone is in that stall,” Saunders said. “This is not something that someone should face on either end if you have to fear walking in on someone or be the person walked in on. That’s not appropriate.”
The Senate bill passed and is going to be sent to various OU faculty including administrative faculty, Student Affairs faculty, and Housing and Residence Life faculty. Thomas plans to meet with Executive Director of Housing and Residence Life Jneanne Hacker soon to discuss the bill.
Chief of Staff Carson Sarver gave a presentation at the meeting regarding civic engagement and the importance of voting in the upcoming election.
Sarver told Senate members it is increasingly important to vote with cuts in state-level education funding back in 2020 causing a $6.5 million reduction in funds for Ohio University which were previously allocated for the current fiscal year.
Students can find more information about how to get involved with civic engagement on campus on the Center for Community Engagement website. Students can also take the Bobcat Voter Pledge and enter a raffle to win a Pumpkin the Cat T-shirt.
Governmental Affairs Commissioner Dan Gordillo said his commission is developing a survey about the DEI scholarships.
Black Affairs Commissioner Precious Powell and her commission are also working on efforts related to the DEI scholarships. She said they are working on the best ways to advocate for Black and multicultural students in regards to diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships.
