A group of faculty signed a letter, released Tuesday, supporting OU Senate President Megan Marzec's right to express herself.
A group of Ohio University faculty signed an open letter to faculty that will be released Wednesday in support of Student Senate President Megan Marzec's right to express her opinion following her controversial 'blood' bucket challenge.
The Post obtained a copy of the letter Tuesday.
"We are appalled by the death threats and other forms of intimidation that she has faced in response," wrote 34 faculty members who signed the letter, released Tuesday. "We are also disappointed in OU administrators and community members who have criticized her act but have not publicly defended her against this violent response."
Marzec last week released a video — since made private, though The Post has uploaded a copy to its website — in which she poured on herself what she called a "bucket of blood." She would later clarify that the bucket actually contained a mix of water, red paint and tomato juice.
“As Student Senate president I am sending a message of student concern of the genocide in Gaza,” she said in the first ten seconds of the roughly 50-second video. She called on Ohio University to distance itself from what she called “atrocities” in Palestine instigated by Israel.
Since, Marzec has said she has received death threats as many have called for her to resign.
The letter's release had been reported by The Post on Monday, when OU associate professor Loren Lybarger told the newspaper a group of OU employees would call on the Athens and OU communities to have an "open and honest" debate rather than an intense exchange in hostilities.
Here is the complete list of faculty who signed the letter.
Names listed alphabetically.
Gene Ammarell, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Neil Bernstein, Department of Classics and World Religions
Thomas Carpenter, Department of Classics and World Religions
Devika Chawla, School of Communication Studies
James Coady (Emeritus), Department of Linguistics
Brian Collins, Department of Classics and World Religions
Elizabeth Collins, Department of Classics and World Religions
Anne Cooper (Emerita), Scripps School of Journalism
Mariana Dantas, Department of History
Ofer Eliaz, School of Dance, Film, and Theater
Melissa Haviland, School of Art and Design
Steve Hays, Department of Classics and World Religions
Gary Holcomb, Department of African American Studies
Akil Houston, Department of African American Studies
Steve Howard, School of Media Arts and Studies
Jaylynne N. Hutchinson, Critical Cultural Studies in Education, Department of Educational Studies
Nicholas J. Kiersey, Department of Political Science
Jennie Klein, School of Art and Design
Ray Klimek, School of Art and Design
Laura Larson, School of Art and Design
Loren D. Lybarger, Department of Classics and World Religions
Ghirmai Negash, Department of English
Vladimir Marchenkov, School of Interdisciplinary Arts
Kevin Mattson, Department of History
Jaclyn Maxwell, Department of History
Duane McDiarmid, School of Art and Design
Richard McGinn (Emeritus), Department of Linguistics
Harold Perkins, Department of Geography
Marina Peterson, School of Interdisciplinary Arts
Herta Rodina, Department of Modern Languages
Louis-Georges Schwartz, School of Dance, Film, and Theater
David Sharpe, Department of English
Kevin Uhalde, Department of History
Julie White, Department of Political Science
