The Faculty Council of the University Senate passed a resolution regarding university leadership’s response to the April 2024 protests. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin
On May 17, the Faculty Council of the University Senate passed a resolution outlining concerns with the university leadership’s response to the April 2024 protests.
Titled “Resolution on the Handling of April 2024 Protests,” the resolution passed with a vote of 36 yeses, 11 nos and 8 abstentions. It also rejects using existing university space rules as a central justification for arrests and disciplinary actions.
Notably, the resolution outlines a handful of “affirmative steps” the university ought to take to “resolve conflict and improve the administration and operation of shared university spaces,” including ongoing conversation with the broader University Senate, university faculty members and the Ohio State community at large.
Sara Watson, chair of the Faculty Council and an associate professor of political science, said the resolution comes after a special meeting was called following the end of the council’s spring session due to concerns about the university’s response.
“We had some faculty senators who had been present for at least a part of the protests, and they shared their experiences,” Watson said. “We also had colleagues who are faculty senators who had not been present but had heard from their constituents in their colleges who were present. So, we had a pretty robust discussion where quite a few faculty sort of expressed their concerns about how the university handled the protests.”
Though there are 71 senators on the Faculty Council, 55 senators participated on the final vote for the resolution, which passed with a two-thirds majority. Watson said she thinks members who voted “yes” likely believed the university’s response — specifically the Ohio State Highway Patrol presence and “arrests of non-violent protesters” — was “not appropriate.”
“I think for those faculty, there’s kind of a sense that one of our central shared values as a university should be a commitment to nonviolence, and so we should only bring in the police as a last resort,” Watson said.
There were some faculty senators who dissented from the resolution. Watson said she thinks members who voted “no” likely believed the university had “communicated what the boundaries are for protest and free speech.”
“[The university] had met with groups beforehand and communicated that, and so I think some faculty felt like the university just basically did what it said it would do, and so they were within their rights,” Watson said.
Watson said one of the proposal’s emphases is reviewing the university’s space policy because “there was a sense of ‘We don’t quite know where the space policy came from.’”
“We did some research subsequently, and it’s at least been around since 2016, at least kind of somewhere online,” Watson said. “But I think there was a sense that it should be brought more clearly into the policy review process because OSU has a formal policy review process.”
University spokesperson Ben Johnson said in an email that, as stated in university President Ted Carter Jr.’s April 29 campus-wide email, Ohio State’s space rules have been in effect for many years.
“The rules were updated significantly in 2016 and last updated in 2021,” Johnson said. “They are posted publicly on the university’s freedom of expression webpage. In addition, individuals were reminded of the space rules repeatedly and given multiple warnings before arrests were made.”
Watson is hopeful about the resolution’s potential impact on the Ohio State community. She said the resolution was intentional in that the council created a “more forward-looking” motion focused on “continued dialogue around free speech and protest,” and creating “a more positive understanding” of free speech on campus.
“I’m hopeful also that we can use this as kind of an opportunity to remain in a meaningful and a kind of sustained dialogue with the university and to maybe craft a more positive understanding on campus of free speech and how it can take place,” Watson said.
Johnson said the university continues to support free speech and has seen “over 30 peaceful demonstrations” on campus since the war in Gaza began.
“In fact, the week after [the] incidents in question, hundreds of individuals gathered on the South Oval to exercise their First Amendment rights at two different events, both of which were held without incident,” Johnson said.
Regarding the next steps, Johnson said the university has been in touch with the council since its resolution was passed.
“The university received the resolution from Faculty Council and responded, and we’ll keep that dialogue open going forward,” Johnson said.
