Administration and Ohio University Police Department Optimistic of Their Student Support

By Brian Fogel and In Collaboration with Lauren Fisher

On September 14, Playboy magazine ranked Ohio University as the number one party school in the nation above schools like Miami of Oxford and University of Iowa.

While many students express their pride for attending OU, there is another side to the party scene that is often overlooked and taken for granted. The OU Police Department, which is located at 135 Scott Quad across from the Botanical Research facility, plays a major role in maintaining safety and upholding the law on campus.

With large parties comes alcohol and with alcohol comes dangerous and even illegal behavior, especially for those who are underage. In an email from Chief Andrew Powers sent university-wide, the OUPD cited that there have been nine cases of sexual misconduct or assault since the school year began.

Tuesday September 29, there was the first Campus Conversation about sexual misconduct in the Walter Hall Rotunda. Students, professors and community members were invited to come and discuss the issue of sexual assault and the screening of the film The Hunting Ground at the Athena.

The Post reported that although the Dean of Students Dr. Jenny Hall-Jones and Chief of OUPD Andrew Powers both were involved in a video released by the school talking about sexual assault, members of the Student Union were “outraged” and created a response video which directly addressed the both of them.

PHOTO | BRIAN FOGEL

The Ohio University Police is located in Scott Quad room 135 across from the Botanical Research Facility. 

OUPD was unavailable to comment on any of these issues or the nature of the party scene on campus, but in the video that was put out by the Division of Student Affairs, Hall-Jones and Powers made various statements about what the university and police department stand for.

“Personal crimes, especially sexual assault, are our top concern,” Powers said in the video. “If you report a sexual assault to Ohio University Police, our first priority will be your personal safety and well-being.”

In response to this message as well as other similar sentiments from Hall-Jones, the Student Union published a response video shortly after the original was released. One of the students in the video cited that 11 of the 12 cases reported in 2014 were still unresolved asking why that was. Many other students raised similar questions in direct response to Hall-Jones and Powers.

One thing that the response video did commend was the mention of Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity, saying that both The Hunting Ground and the Administration's video mentioned its importance.  

The official OUPD page states that the department has the main responsibility “for enforcement of criminal laws, all investigations occurring on campus, and issuing timely warning of crimes that pose a threat to students and employees.”

Any other information from the police force is yet to be obtained through the oversight of Lieutenant Ryan, who is the technology administrator of OUPD.