Upwards of 50 students gathered at Pulley Tower and walked to Lewis Place to protest Senate Bill 1 (S.B. 1), which would ban diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in schools across Ohio.
The protesters began to march to Lewis Place around 12:30 p.m. today. Many protesters held homemade signs with slogans reading “our students deserve better,” “just say no” and “knowledge is power.” Students also shouted protest chants.
Students met at Pulley Tower before marching to Lewis Place.
Kali Barcroft, a first-year political science major and Ohio Student Association (OSA) president organized the event and used social media and email to spread the word about the time and location of the protest.
“We are the future generation of advocates,” Barcroft said. “Not only that, but people listen to students. We’re investing our time and people listen.”
Barcroft also said the protest was planned in conjunction with many other OSA members across the state. Similar protests were scheduled for the same at other Ohio universities like The Ohio State University.
Marley White, a first-year mechanical engineering major, said he was protesting because education is important to him. He said he feels that higher education has been jeopardized, and he hopes that protests will provoke a response from governmental leaders.
“It’s hard because we’re only so many people, and we can only really influence somebody as much as they want to be influenced,” White said.
Ian Larson, a graduate student studying audiology and speech pathology, said he always wants to support funding education, as well as programs that he had while completing his undergraduate degree at Miami.
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“I want President Crawford to go on the record and say, ‘Yes, I support diversity, equity and inclusion,’” Larson said.
Students said they heard about the protest through social media, email blasts and word of mouth.
Rick Ingersoil, former web communication specialist for the College of Arts and Science, said he heard about the protest from his wife, a professor at Miami. He said he was involved in protesting during the 60’s and 70’s, and sees protests skewing older in recent years. He hopes students and young people will become more active as legislation like S.B. 1 continues to be introduced.
“We just have to keep rising up,” Ingersoil said. “More and more people have to start doing this, or we’re going to lose a lot of our rights.”
The Ohio House passed S.B. 1 this afternoon.
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