Student conference concludes without major incident

COLUMBUS - The three-day National Student Conference on the Palestine Solidarity Movement held on The Ohio State University campus on Nov. 7-9 concluded Sunday evening without violence or major incidents associated with the conference or its protestors.

The conference, held at the Ohio Union, 1739 N. High St., had 271 registrants on Saturday (11/8) and 210 on Sunday (11/9).

“We had several hundred people who felt passionate about a controversial cause,” said Ohio State Vice President for Student Affairs Bill Hall. “Most of them spent the weekend discussing and expressing ideas in a calm and civil manner. Although there were some noisy exchanges from time to time, the overall tone was one of dialogue and learning.”

Protests were held outside the union on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, with crowds ranging from a few on Friday to more than 100 on Sunday.

The conference was sponsored by the Committee for Justice in Palestine, a registered student organization at Ohio State that rented space in the Ohio Union.

In the weeks leading up to the conference, concerns were raised about the safety of the event and the appropriateness of it being held at Ohio State. The university followed its policy and the U.S. Constitution in supporting the rights of the university community and invited guests to express their views and opinions.

In a statement to the university community on Tuesday (11/4), Ohio State President Karen A. Holbrook said, “We have consistently affirmed that there is no endorsement of politics or practices by reason of the conference's location, and expect that it will be an educational experience on many fronts, although controversial. In the end, as with all activities involving students, it will be about learning and dialogue, freely expressed.”

Hall said that throughout the weekend, in both general and breakout sessions, there were no incidents of violence or hate speech. There were no arrests.