Students, faculty, Athens locals and law enforcement came through Cutler Hall’s doors on Friday due to the recent changes to the Survivor Advocacy Program.
Students staged a sit-in on the first floor of Cutler Hall outside Ohio University President Roderick McDavis’s office Friday, which led to an all-night protest in support of the OU Survivor Advocacy Program.
The sit-in was held because of “the university trying to shut down the Survivor Advocacy program,” according to a Facebook post rallying supporters for the Friday afternoon sit-in by Rachel Baker, a sophomore studying social work. It lasted from 3-5 p.m. and was organized by members of the OU Student Union. Protesters left the building seconds before possible arrests from OU police officers.
Members decided following the sit-in they would continue the demonstration that night, which occurred from about 7:30 p.m. to 12 a.m. Saturday, as members sat on College Green. The group had planned to return to College Green Monday morning, but as off press time had decided against it, Bobby Walker, a junior studying women's, gender and sexuality studies and a member of the Student Union said.
Concern from Student Union members arose after OUSAP’s former program coordinator Delaney Anderson left OU on Oct. 16 and took a job outside of the university.
Since Anderson’s absence, OU has not posted a listing to fill the position, Bobby Walker said.
Protesters said without Anderson, there were no more confidential reporters left at OUSAP.
“They’ve done away with what SAP is supposed to do,” Ryan Powers, a junior studying philosophy said during the afternoon sit-in. “SAP doesn’t serve its purpose of assisting survivors.”
Although OUSAP is without a licensed and credentialed program coordinator, the program is partnering with Counseling and Psychological Services and Campus Care to provide survivors with confidential support, according to a previous Post report.
The university administration has made numerous statements since Anderson's departure was announced last Monday. "(OU) is not shutting down the SAP program,” OU Spokeswoman Bethany Venable said in an email Friday at about 5 p.m.
“To the contrary, it has taken short term measures to address what has been identified as immediate needs, and its next steps are focused on strengthening and fortifying the program and the services it provides to the clients it serves,” Venable said in an email.
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Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones said until the university can find a permanent replacement for an OUSAP coordinator, officials are trying to find an interim replacement who is a licensed and a credentialed program coordinator.
“It’s not going away," Hall-Jones said of the program. "It’s coming back."
Conner Dalton, an undecided freshman, shared her personal experience with OUSAP and Anderson during the sit-in.
“(Anderson) would go with me to all of my meetings that I had,” Dalton said. “Now that she is gone, there is no one left to listen ... I’ve had to go to the prosecutor's office by myself, and I was belittled, and they told me that what happened wasn’t a crime and that they aren’t going to take my case.”
Carl Edward Smith III, the president of Graduate Student Senate, participated in the sit-in as well.
“I think rape culture affects everyone on a campus,” Smith, a graduate student studying public administration, said. “Survivor Advocacy Program is something that benefits everybody in the university community, and I think we all need (to) show support for that.”
There were about 20 people participating in each of the demonstrations Friday, but some people would come and go during the afternoon, and not all who came to the sit-in were OU students.
Jan Merich, a farmer in Athens, said she found out by word of mouth and that the news of OUSAP “has spread throughout the feminist community like wildfire.”
“We need SAP back,” Merich, a 1975 OU alumna, said. “They cannot shut it down, it is morally incorrect. It’s just like taking away something that any oppressed people have.”
Suzy Aftabizadeh, a junior at Athens High School, said she had never been to a sit-in before but decided to come to Cutler after school.
"I thought it would be interesting because it’s kind of important to me,” Aftabizaden said.
Some OU faculty and staff member also came to Cutler Friday afternoon to support their students.
delfin bautista, the director of the OU LGBT Center, was not protesting but came for support.
“Just to show support to students that there are many of us in the administration who show solidarity and find that this conversation is very important,” bautista, who uses they/them pronouns and the lowercase spelling of their name, said.
Catherine Euler, a faculty member for women’s, gender and sexuality studies, said she heard about the protest from one of her students and hopes the university rectifies the situation.
“The sexual assault issue is a community issue as well as a university issue,” Euler, who is also an Athens resident, said. “These programs are good for the whole community.”
Though OU is addressing the situation according to university-wide emails, members of the Student Union are still wary.
“We stay until our demands are met or there’s commitments to our demands,” Walker said during Friday's sit-in. “The truth is that Ohio University has never cared for us.”
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