Climate activists protested two consecutive Ohio State events Wednesday and Thursday, demanding the university divest from fossil fuels and invest in clean energy.
The Ohio Youth for Climate Justice organization protested Ohio State’s Earth Day event Wednesday and the State of the University address Thursday, holding banners and chanting criticism toward University President Kristina M. Johnson.
Ohio State’s “Time to Act on Climate Change” event was scheduled from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday. However, after Johnson received the Chadwick Award for her efforts on behalf of climate change, student organizers interrupted her acceptance speech by yelling chants and calling her a “fraud.”
Protesters also chanted outside the auditorium in which the State of the University address was held in the Wexner Center for the Arts as attendees watched before entering, continuing their vocal demands from Wednesday.
Yousuf Munir, a first-year in sociology and member of Ohio Youth for Climate Justice, said before the address that the group will continue to protest until the university makes changes.
“We’re here because we know we can and will keep showing up and doing whatever it takes until we get a victory,” Munir said. “If we didn’t win yesterday, we’ll win today until all the pressure piles up and we knock our obstacles down.”
Munir said the organization exhausted all of its options when trying to contact Johnson, including emailing her, filling out forms to meet with her, talking with her secretary and rallying at her office.
“It wasn’t until we got to the end of the year and realized that a whole year had passed without Kristina Johnson even being willing to look us in the eye and say a single word about her investments and the university’s investments in fossil fuels,” Munir said. “Today we saw that she is going to continue on that path until we keep doing more.”
Munir said in addition to divestmenting from fossil fuels, protesters were advocating for the university to invest in the Columbus community
“Specifically the communities of color that have been most impacted by the climate crisis and will continue to be most impacted until Kristina Johnson decides to grow up and take a stand,” Munir said.
University spokesperson Chris Booker said in an email the university supports the First Amendment rights of its community. He said the university is committed to sustainability, combatting climate change and carbon neutrality.
“Just today, President Johnson delivered a bold commitment to develop a plan to zero out our carbon footprint by 2040, at the latest,” Booker said.
Booker said the university is reducing its carbon footprint by installing upgraded heating and cooling systems and LED lightbulbs and planting more trees. He said it is developing the Combined Heat and Power plant and related projects — which would reduce its carbon footprint by 30 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels, building the Energy Advancement Center — where researcher will develop smart energy systems, renewable energy and green transportation — and converting vehicles to alternative fuels, such as electric, hybrid or compressed natural gas fuels. The entire CABS fleet will use carbon neutral gas by 2026.
Jeff Sharp, director of the School of Environment and Natural Resources, said the Earth Day event organizers did not plan or expect for the protest to happen, but he believes protesters had concerns that deserve to be heard.
Munir said by interrupting the event, the student organizers hoped to show they are taking their protests to the next level.
“We were also here to make another statement that we’re officially done playing nice,” Munir said.
Sharp said there are many different strategies the university could consider to combat climate change, some of which the student organizers demanded.
“We all, I think, we have the same goal in terms of environmental preservation, protection and whatnot. There’s just different ways to approach that,” Sharp said.
Bob Campbell, spectator of the event and father of speaker Joe Campbell, director of the Environmental Professionals Network in the School of Environment and Natural Resources, said the passion and concerns the students had were real, but it was unfortunate that some plans for the Earth Day program were not able to be followed through.
“Kristina Johnson, I think she heard it, you know, she felt it,” Campbell said.
Munir said the student protesters’ goal was to interrupt Johnson’s speech and stay for as long as she would listen to them. They also hoped for her to make a statement in opposition to “the funding of the climate crisis.”
Munir said they called Johnson a “fraud” because she accepted an award for working to solve the climate crisis that they believe she is helping fund.
“If I was her, I would be ashamed to accept an award for a climate crisis that is affecting so many people across the planet and in our own community,” Munir said.
Sharp said after Johnson left the stage, protesters directed their attention to him. He said he left the room and the students followed him outside of the event. Police then arrived to keep the students from reentering the US Bank Conference Theater in order to resume the program.
“There’s real passion there that I think deserves to be heard, and it’s like I, you know, I heard it,” Sharp said, “I don’t know if they felt like they were heard, and I can’t make the decisions they want to make.”
Jessica Langer contributed reporting.
Update: This story was updated to include that The Lantern is awaiting a comment from the university on the protest.
Update: This story was updated to include comment from the university.
