Hundreds of protestors, including students and faculty at the University of Cincinnati, marched to the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday to demand answers from school leaders about the future of DEI programs and minority student groups at UC.
Late last week, the university announced it would comply with state and federal mandates to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and enforce a new restroom policy requiring students and staff to use the restroom that matches the gender on their birth certificates.
Tuesday was the second consecutive day of protests on UC's campus over the decision. Following a student and faculty rally on Monday, university President Neville Pinto said in a statement he was listening to their concerns.
"Please know that my team and I hear you, and we understand there is tremendous pain and anxiety around these issues. I want you to know that while the laws that govern us may change, the values that guide us will not," Pinto wrote. "At my core, I believe there is great goodness in every member of our university community, and together we will successfully emerge from this time of immense change."
Still, students say they're not being heard. The university put up signs in front of some campus restrooms that read "biological men" and "biological women." UC says those signs are required by state law, but some question if leaders have been too quick to comply with mandates before considering alternatives.
Additionally, students involved in several minority organizations say Pinto has not assured them that their groups will be able to stay alive amid the intense political pressure to dissolve them.
Students filled the hallways outside UC's Board room, chanting and banging on the walls for the duration of Tuesday's meeting. Only a small number of student protestors, including Kaniya Thomas, made it inside the room. She says students asked if organizations like the African American Cultural & Resource Center and the LGBTQ Center would be impacted by the dismantling of DEI. She said Pinto and the trustees didn't provide a clear answer.
"We just wanted them to hear what we had to say and the response to that was basically that they didn't care," she said. "We asked very explicit questions. We asked them straight forward, 'yes or no, are these places still going to be here?' And, the meeting was adjourned."
Another student in the room, Marcus Gunn, was disappointed in the Board's lack of a response. He says students are worried about how the government's legislation will impact their daily lives, and UC has done little to calm their nerves.
"As members of the Board, they're not doing enough for us. They're not doing anything for us," Gunn told WVXU. "This is not right, and we're not going for it."
Pinto has released three statements in the past few days acknowledging the UC community's need for clarity amid the flurry of government orders but still hasn't definitively answered many of the questions people have.
"I recognize that when the stakes are this high, there is a desperate need for clarity. I share in your longing for information, and I commit to you that we will continue to work diligently to fully understand and communicate the implications of these new policies, directives and orders," he wrote.
Those statements have done little to stop things from heating up on campus. UC student Isaac Makanda says it is clear the university's leaders are feeling pressure on all sides and don't know what their next move should be.
"They don't even know themselves and that's the problem. They're sending out all these emails, they're sending out all these plans that they want to do, but they're not sure if they want to go through with them, and that's where the confusion starts. Both sides are getting confused a little bit and nobody really knows what's actually going on," Makanda said.
A University of Cincinnati spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment after Tuesday's protest.
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