Parents want more after OSU response to recent crimes
Despite the announcement Friday by Ohio State University of additional security resources after a series of violent crimes reported in the off-campus areas, parents remain concerned about the safety of their students.
Ohio State University Kristina M. Johnson sent an email to the Colum
bus campus community about increased security measures being taken on and off campus.
She said light towers and cameras will be added along pedestrian pathways, and there will be security provided by the Community Crime Patrol and marked security vehicles.
“The university is acutely aware that these resources are only part of the equation,” Johnson said in the email. “I want to reiterate in the strongest possible terms that Ohio State is committed to supporting our students and the offcampus neighborhoods in which they reside. Longer term, Ohio State is working to address some of the underlying causes of crime in our community.”
Nearly a dozen robberies, many of them at gunpoint, have been reported to the campus community in safety alerts since Aug. 16, when students began moving back into the campus area.
While the parents say they are on the same side as the university in wanting students to be safe and have a good college experience, the lack of perceived urgency by Ohio State has caused some parents to consider pulling their students from the Columbus campus.
Between Aug. 16 and Friday, Ohio State issued multiple campus safety alerts about crimes reported in the offcampus area near the university.
h Around 1:05 a.m. on Aug. 16, a student reported being robbed at gunpoint near 16th and Waldeck avenues.
h Around 10:25 p.m. on Aug. 17, a person not affiliated with the university was carjacked near Indianola and Norwich avenues.
h Three incidents were reported on Aug. 18. Around 12:40 a.m., three students were robbed of their purses and/ or wallets near 18th Avenue and 4th Street. Around 12:55 a.m., patrons of Ugly Tuna Saloona 2 were approached in an attempted robbery just outside the business, the victims ran back inside the bar. It is unknown if they had any affiliation with the university. Around 2:20 a.m., two students were robbed near 13th Avenue and Indianola Avenue.
h On Aug. 21, two students standing in a parking lot at Indianola and Woodruff avenues around 11:05 p.m. were robbed and their vehicle stolen.
h On Aug. 22,a student was robbed and sexually assaulted around 2:55 a.m. while walking alone near the intersection of Tuller and Lane avenues.
h Around 2:30 a.m. Monday, a student walking alone in the area of High Street and Northwood Avenue was robbed at gunpoint.
h Around 11:20 p.m. Monday, a student walking alone was approached by two people who demanded his backpack. One of the suspects had a firearm and pointed it at the student, according to police. A 20-year-old man was later arrested and has been charged in connection with this robbery.
h Around 2:10 a.m. Wednesday, officers were called to Indianola and Woodruff avenues after a student reported being approached by two suspects, one of whom pointed a firearm and demanded his valuables. The student, who was with other people at the time, handed over his cellphone and ran away.
h Around 4:30 a.m. Friday, a student said they were robbed at gunpoint on the 1500 block of High Street, between West 10th and West 11th avenues.
Johnson and Columbus police Chief Elaine Bryant met on Tuesday to discuss security in the off-campus area, which is in the jurisdiction of Columbus police. Ohio State University police are responsible for the campus.
Columbus police Sgt. James Fuqua said no one from the police division was available to discuss with The Dispatch the security concerns raised by parents in the off-campus areas around Ohio State until the week of Aug. 29.
Irene Hendrick, whose sophomore son lives off-campus through an exemption to the university’s two-year requirement to live on campus, said she started Buckeyes for a Safe Ohio State last year following the death of 23-yearold Chase Meola, who was fatally shot outside at an off-campus party in October 2020.
The parents group has spoken with members of the board of trustees, senior officials at the university and its public safety department on multiple occasions.
“It’s not if your kid is going to be a victim of crime, it’s a matter of when. You coach them how to be a victim and give up their stuff,” Hendrick said. Ohio State has to “work with state police or hire private security, whatever it takes, I’m sure there’s a solution. You have to want to find it.”
Hendrick, who lives in New Jersey, and other parents in the group, have reached out to Ohio Gov. Mike Dewine, Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and Johnson.
“I get it’s an urban area and crime happens, and the relationship between police and citizens is sensitive, and I get all those issues,” Hendrick said. “These are students, a vulnerable population.”
Hendrick and other parents have expressed concerns about the location of campus and the trauma of their children “having a gun pointed in their face.”
“It’s almost a ghetto; nobody’s watching out for them,” Hendrick said.
‘I felt helpless’
One of the parents who spoke to The Dispatch is the mother of a man who was robbed at gunpoint in the off-campus area during the spring 2021 semester. The Dispatch is not naming her to protect her son’s privacy, amid concerns he has about potential retribution.
“There’s no words to describe how awful it is for him or for me,” the mother said. “I felt helpless.”
She said the emotional trauma has resurfaced after her son’s apartment was also burglarized and a carjacking occurred in the vicinity of where he is staying this semester.
“He’s been hit all the way around. We owe the victims more and they can do better. They deserve to go to sleep without fearing,” she said.
Hendrick said she had asked her son to transfer, but he had friends at Ohio State and was happy there. She said, however, that if the crime doesn’t stop, she will stop paying her son’s tuition and have him transfer to another school.
“It’s not just about him. I don’t deserve not to sleep at night,” Hendrick said. “Contract with whoever you have to contract with knowing there’s literally predators who are looking for kids to rob and steal from.”
Angela Fredriksson, who lives near Louisville, Kentucky, said her son had enrolled at Ohio State in fall 2020 as a first-year student. After lots of discussion, Fredriksson said the decision was ultimately made for her son not to return to campus because of safety concerns.
“These students are vulnerable, innocent victims and they’re being ambushed by criminals almost daily,” Fredriksson said. “These poor students have to live in this dangerous, threatening environment.”
Parents affiliated with Buckeyes for a Safe Ohio State say they want more lighting on off-campus streets to deter crime, as well as increased police patrols on and off campus.
Some students want OSU to cut ties with Columbus police
Not everyone at Ohio State is in favor of more police presence on campus though.
Angry Ohio State students and University District residents criticized the Columbus police in April when nearly 1,000 student partiers caused thousands of dollars in damages at “Chittfest,” an annual block party held the day of OSU’S spring football game. Students said police were slow to act during the party and could’ve prevented much of the damage.
Police have said the response to the block party was handled in accordance with new crowd-control policies put in place in the summer of 2020, following concerns of how force was used against protesters in the Downtown area. Those polices prohibit the use of tear gas and other chemicals to disperse non-violent gatherings.
Later that month, students filled the Ohio Union to protest the university’s ties to Columbus police after the shooting death of Ma’khia Bryant, a 16-yearold who was shot by a city police officer while bodycam video showed her lunging with a knife at another young woman. Protesters marched to the Statehouse and called on Ohio State, among other things, to sever its mutual aid agreement with city police.
In May, Ohio State law students held a sit-in at the university, hosted by the Black Law Student Association, saying there is no reason Columbus police should be on campus. The group protested against police brutality against the Black community, and supported a request for a federal investigation of the Columbus police.
Some of their demands included that Ohio State cease contracts and mutual aid with Columbus police, stop accepting military-grade resources and militarization efforts, and create an action plan that includes consideration of the safety of Black students.
The university and Johnson have said the ties between Ohio State and Columbus police will not be cut.
Hendrick said the discussion about defunding police or other police reforms is not something she or her group want to be involved with.
Gregory Mcgahan, whose sophomore son lives on campus, said there is an understanding that more than one perspective has to be considered to make changes.
“When you try to solve one problem, you have to be cautious of the secondary and tertiary impact,” Mcgahan said. “You can’t come in with a hammer; you have to be conscious of the impact on a secondary level of those changes.”
What Ohio State is doing for student safety
Monica Moll, Ohio State’s director of public safety, said the university has been proactive in alerting students when crimes occur — even if they don’t involve people affiliated with the university — and in providing educational resources about ways to reduce the campus community’s risk of becoming a victim. Those same messages are being sent to parents so they can help reinforce the messages about safety.
“I remember what it was like to be a college student and feel invincible,” Moll said. “They can never eliminate their risk to zero. You can do all the right things and still have a robbery occur.”
She said she understands the concerns of parents, particularly those who may be from more rural areas.
“It is a big city, 14th largest city in the country, and we have a lot of the same problems that other cities do,” Moll said. “Sometimes, I think they feel like we’re not as focused as we should be. We definitely are.”
The university has made a number of options available for students to get home safely at night, including expanding the hours of the Lyft Ride Smart discounted ride-share program. Students can get a ride share between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. throughout most of the University District for a discounted price.
The university has restarted its relationship with Community Crime Patrol, which puts unarmed citizens on patrols in the area to keep an eye out for suspicious activity and communicate with police. There also has been a concerted effort to replace street lights that are burned out.
Columbus police said in a statement they are working on “multiple” safety strategies with the university, but offered no real specifics.
Are Ohio State changes enough for parents?
But parents such as Mcgahan say the university could be doing more, and parents are willing to help to find solutions.
“We know you can’t change it overnight, but knowing there’s a plan in place, some tangible plan, would be helpful,” he said. “We’re not here to complain; we just want things to happen. We want our kids to be safe.”
He suggested having the university use portable lighting towers or security camera towers, like those seen in some grocery store parking lots, in off-campus areas.
Following Friday’s announcement by OSU president Johnson, Hendrick said the group is still frustrated by Johnson’s lack of direct communication with the parents group.
“We are happy that after a 10-day crime spree in which OSU students have had guns shoved in their faces, sometimes while they were walking in groups, President Johnson has issued a statement assuring both students and their families that she finds the frequency and severity of the crime occurring in the off campus area disturbing,” Hendrick said.
Hendrick said parents in her group want to see these measures that are being implemented become a more permanent part of the campus community, not just a stop-gap to appease those who have been speaking out publicly.
“We hope that these added patrols continue throughout the school year and are not just a temporary measure to placate the thousands of students, parents and family members that have asked President Johnson and OSU administrators to take action to protect OSU students,” Hendrick said. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner shendrix@dispatch.com @sheridan120