Currently, student activists are occupying Ohio States administration building. Administrators Jay Casey, Mark Evans, and President Drake are currently starving the student activists by not allowing food into the building. There are reports that police officers have knocked down food that was to be delivered to activists. Please read the message from activists below:
-The Afrikan Black Coalition
For too long, students have been silenced by OSU administration. Demands by Real Food OSU to create a just, transparent and democratic food system; demands by United Students Against Sweatshops to halt the Comprehensive Energy Management Plan which would further privatize our university; and demands by Committee for Justice in Palestine’s to divest from companies that are complicit in Israeli apartheid; have all been denied by OSU Administration.
We do not know what companies OSU invests in and we do not know how our tuition money is allocated. Requests to see this information have been denied. How is it that OSU refuses to tell us where our money is going? How are we to know that the companies we invest in aren’t complicit in violence and exploitation of others? Because we are refused access to this information, we are unable to confirm that our investments are ethical and we are unable to confirm that our budget is fairly distributed. Ohio State’s refusal to be completely transparent with our money is testament to their prioritization of profit over people.
We are occupying to show that we will not remain complacent while Ohio State continually represses its students, faculty, staff, and those affected by Ohio State’s investments. We are here because these voices deserve to be heard and these demands deserve to be met. We are here because we are fighting for justice and nothing less.
We will not leave this space until both of the below demands are met.
We demand complete, comprehensive and detailed access to the Ohio State budget and investments immediately, as well as personnel to aid students in understanding this information.
Updates to investments and/or the budget must be publicly stated, publicly available, and provide qualified personnel to aid in understanding these changes and make the information fully accessible to all students, faculty, and staff.
We demand the administration of the Ohio State University be responsive to community calls for justice, transparency and democratic process by meeting at least one of the previously established campaign demands below.
OSU Divest: Divest from Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett Packard and G4S due to their involvement in well-documented human rights abuses in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and across the globe.
United Students Against Sweatshops: Immediately cease all negotiations of the Comprehensive Energy Management Project. The university must maintain in-house operation of its energy systems, ensure that all workers in the energy systems will continue to work for the university, and ensure student led sustainability measures are implemented.
Real Food OSU: Sign the Real Food Campus Commitment. Ensure the administration work with Real Food OSU through the entire implementation of the Real Food Campus Commitment, in place of, or as a means of attaining, the university sustainability goal of increased “production and purchase of locally and sustainably sourced food to 40% by 2025.”
