This summer an instagram account @dearohionorthern was created. This page was created by a student at Ohio Northern because of the #MeToo movement and inaction of the ONU administration. They were inspired to make the page from similar instagram accounts at other colleges.
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The student who started the page had gone through the Title IX process and felt that it was inadequate. The student was “extremely frustrated with the amount of steps [they] had to take just to have [their] story heard”. They thought that it may have been easier to stop and simply accept that justice would not be served.
This instagram account posts anonymous accounts of ONU student and alumni experiences of racial and sexual distrimination, rape, and other stories of injustice on Ohio Northern’s campus in hopes of creating a dialogue with the university to make the campus environment safer for students.
@dearohionorthern urges that administrators “open their ears” and listen to students rather than “waste [time] on shushing students”. They did note that the Unity Walk means that conversations on race-relations are beginning to occur. They are very grateful for this; however, they would still like to see more.
When asked if they support ONU hosting a self defense class, they agreed that this would be a good idea. They also suggested that ONU provide education on sexual assault and promote the formation of a sexual assult awareness organization on campus. They also stated that moving the Title IX office to a central location in MacIntosh Center so it is more accessible to students and ensure every student is aware of the office might help students come forward and feel safer on campus.
A recent story posted on instagram details a story in which a student encountered an ONU coach that is “notorious for partying with students” and took a student to his home and tried to get the student to enter his house. Allowing this coach to still be on campus shows that ONU is trying to keep students quiet so as to not ruin ONU’s reputation.
The University is aware of the account and on most of dearohionorthern’s posts comments, including the post mentioned above:
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@dearohionorthern still says stories should be shared to erase the stigma of sexual abuse if those students are comfortable and the more stories that are shared may cause a further response from the University.