An Open Letter from Members of the Department of History at The Ohio State University

28 April 2024

To add your name in support of this statement, sign here.

We, the undersigned members of the Department of History, strongly condemn the use of force and arrest against students exercising their right to free speech on campus. On April 25th, Ohio State Police (OSUPD), Columbus Police (CPD), Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP), and Franklin County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) aggressively disrupted a peaceful gathering of students and arrested 36 of the protestors.

The Ohio State University has a long and rich history of anti-war protests. In 1970, later known as the Spring of Dissent, The Ohio State University closed campus for two weeks following the university administration’s use of brutal force against students protesting U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. As historians, we have deep knowledge of these legacies of student activism on college campuses. From the Spring of Dissent to the Divestment from South Africa Movement in 1977 — students have always been at the forefront, advocating for meaningful change on their respective college campuses.

The employment of police and military units to breakup student protests remains an unnecessary and violent tactic. Police intervention remains dangerously escalatory and jeopardizes the lives and health of students. As graduate students in the state of Ohio, we hold in mind that this kind of violent suppression resulted in the tragic killing of four students at Kent State University on May 4, 1970, during a rally opposing an increased involvement in the Vietnam War. We also remember the deaths of two more students eleven days later on May 14, 1970, when police fired into a dormitory at Jackson State University.

The Ohio State University has supported students’ free speech on a wide variety of controversial political topics from opposing political sides. The University’s tolerance of these acts of political and civic engagement stand in direct contrast to its treatment of student protesters on April 25th and is contradictory to the University’s stated mission of preparing students to be “leaders and engaged citizens,” and “fostering a culture of engagement and service.”

Once again, this country is bearing witness to the devastating institutional response to student activism. We call on the University Administration to recommit to protecting students’ right to free speech and protest in clear and unequivocal terms. We also call on the University to drop all “criminal trespassing” charges against students, which are a clear attempt to intimidate and deny students their right to free speech. We stand in solidarity with student activists and demand school administrators to protect students’ constitutional right to protest. We ask that University Administration:

1. Dismiss and expunge the charges brought against all 41 OSU students, staff, and community members arrested between April 23–26, 2024.
2. Refrain from deploying CPD, OSUPD, and other police units in response to student demonstrations on our campus.
3. Commit to protecting free speech and assembly on campus, and refrain from using expulsion, disciplinary action, targeted policing, and/or further retaliation against demonstrators.

As educators, historians, and graduate students, our posts not only depend on the principles of academic freedom but in active advocacy regarding the protection and defense of students’ right to free speech and assembly. We urge the University to remember its commitment to these principles and enshrine students’ freedom to critically engage with the world in which they live.

To add your name in support of this statement, sign here.

In solidarity,

• Chris Leger, Ph.D. Student
• Tara Godwin, Ph.D. Student
• Justin I. Salgado, Ph.D. Candidate
• Avijit Singh, Ph.D. Student
• Sierra Phillips, Ph.D. Student
• Katherine Weiss, Ph.D. Candidate
• Mansi Goyal, Ph.D. Student
• Nicholas Seay, Ph.D. Candidate
• Victoria Paige, Ph.D. Student
• Di Wang, Ph.D. Student
• Ryan Metz, Ph.D. Student
• Paul McAllister, Ph.D. Candidate
• Kiki Mackaman-Lofland, Ph.D. Candidate
• Merve Savas, Ph.D. Candidate
• Sydney Heifler, Ph.D. Student
• Emma Todd, Ph.D. Student
• Emily Hardick, Ph.D. Candidate
• Firdaws Issah Zakaria, Ph.D. Student
• Leyla Tiglay, Ph.D. Candidate
• Henry Misa, Ph.D. Candidate
• Alyssa Kotva, Ph.D. Candidate
• Daniela Edmeier, Ph.D. Candidate
• Marc Arenberg, Ph.D. Candidate
• Mytheli Sreenivas, Professor of History and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
• Dr. Julie M Powell, Alumna, BSBA 2005, PhD 2020
• Christopher Kinley, Ph.D. Candidate
• Alyssa Reynolds, Administrative Associate
• Clayton Howard, Associate Professor
• Erin Barrentine, Ph.D. Student, NESA department
• Brian Rzepka, Fiscal Associate
• María Esther Hammack, Assistant Professor, History
• Amanda Respess, Assistant Professor of History
• Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Associate Professor
• Birgitte Søland, Associate Professor
• Sarah Van Beurden, Associate Professor, Dept. of History and Dept. of African American and African Studies
• Margaret Newell, Professor
• Theodora Dragostinova, Professor of History
• Daniel Rivers, Associate Professor
• Thomas F. McDow, Associate Professor
• Yigit Akin, Associate Professor
• David Brakke, Professor and Joe R. Engle Chair in the History of Christianity
• Carole Fink, Professor of History Emerita
• Jessica Delgado, Associate Professor, History and WGSS
• Hannah Holbert, Graduate Student In Public History Program
• Christopher Nichols, Hayes Chair, Professor of History
• Christopher A. Reed, Associate Professor
• Eric H. Limbach, Lecturer
• Jane Hathaway, Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor Emerita
• Jennifer Getson, PhD, Academic Program Coordinator
• David Hoffmann, College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor
• Greg Anderson, Professor of History
• Ryan Fontanilla, Assistant Professor
• DeAnza A. Cook, Assistant Professor
• Laurel Hilliard, Digital Content Editor, Wexner Center for the Arts, Bachelor of Arts, Department of English, 2019
• Elizabeth Dillenburg, Assistant Professor of History
• Bruno Cabanes, Professor
• Ahmad Sikainga, Professor, Department of History
• Bert Harrill, Professor
• Bart Elmore, Professor
• Amanda Budreau, Events Coordinator
• Markus Schoof, Lecturer
• Elizabeth Perego, Alumna, PhD 2017
• Katherine Mooney, PhD Candidate
• Nicholas Breyfogle, Associate Professor
• Alice L. Conklin, Professor
• John H. Perry, Alumna, PhD 2019