Climate change extremists interrupt OSU president's speech, demand divestment from Israel & fossil fuels

On Jan. 25, three members of the Ohio Youth for Climate Justice (OHYCJ) group protested Ohio State President Ted Carter Jr. by shouting during his speech at a campus event.

In a recent open letter, OHYCJ wrote that three of its members were protesting “OSU’s investments in fossil fuels and israeli [sic] apartheid during President Carter’s speech.” The group has also defended the protest, saying that the students were “simply … exercising their freedom of speech.”

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According to The Lantern, a student newspaper at OSU, President Carter allowed the students to shout for over a minute before responding.

Hours later, the students allegedly received a summons for a potential violation of OSU’s Code of Conduct, which prohibits “[d]isorderly or disruptive conduct that unreasonably interferes with university activities.”

Reportedly, the university intends to discipline the students for their protest against President Carter. The students plan on appealing any disciplinary measures, according to The Lantern.

On Feb. 15, OHYCJ published the open letter demanding that Ohio State “[d]rop all charges against pro-Palestine organizers and dismiss any potential sanctions against student organizers and organizations.”

The group has called for the university to “[t]ake immediate steps to divest OSU’s endowment from israeli [sic] companies, international companies on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) list, and the fossil fuel industry.”

The OHYCJ statement noted that, “For 75 years, Palestinians have lived under brutal occupation by the israeli [sic] settler colonial state” and that a “nearly 17-year-long siege has trapped over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.” The statement also refers to the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza as a “genocide.”

The organization also took issue with the carbon dioxide released by the war in Gaza, stating that as a result, “Palestine is one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world.”

The statement accused Ohio State’s President and Office of Investments of “sustain[ing] israel’s [sic] genocide in Gaza by continuing to invest Ohio State’s endowment in israeli [sic] companies and international companies on the BDS list.” 

OYCJ continued to blame the University of “grant[ing] the fossil fuel industry social license to continue endless extraction, even amidst ongoing genocide.”

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The letter concluded with a demand that OSU “take immediate action to divest OSU’s endowment from israeli [sic] companies, international companies on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (BDS) list, and the fossil fuel industry.”

Campus Reform has contacted Ohio State University and Ohio Youth for Climate Justice for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.