Ohio University BARE Campaign Exposes More Than Beliefs

BARE is a campaign that ran for Student Senate at Ohio University headed by senior Ryant Taylor. Taylor is an english creative writing major and is also a cofounder of New Blac Live Action Coalition, is the organizing coordinator for the Ohio University Student Union, a commissioner for the Student Senate, and has his own column in the post. BARE is an acronym that stands for bobcats for affordability, responsibility, and empowerment and fights for issues such as the controversial tuition raises and other matters of equality and sexual consent at the university.

The week of April 7, 2015, the campaign encouraged their supporters to flood Twitter with pictures of themselves going bare in the literal sense, with no clothing and nothing covering them except for a promotional sign.

One of these students, Alyssa Michele, said, "I'm going BARE because I don't want representation. I want change I can be a part of."

Another student, Hayely Oliver, stated, "I am getting BARE because I believe in the empowerment of all students." When the results were announced on April 16, Oliver was elected the position under the arts and sciences slot.

Gabby Bacha was elected Student Senate president, beating Taylor by 226 votes. Other than Oliver, the only other student from the campaign who was elected a position was Daniel Kington, winning the Honors Tutorial College slot.

As far as Kington's plans, Taylor declared, "I know he's really involved with the real food challenge, which is a really good way for us to have more organic and more local food." Of the students who did not win positions, most of them plan to stay active in spreading their beliefs and are already active members of the Student Union, not letting this loss deter them.

Ohio University student Alexis Chambers on April 14, 2015 at John Calhoun Baker University Center in Athens, Ohio, providing other students with a means to vote. Voting was online and occurred through the next day.

Ohio University students Kyle Tussing, Grant Stover, Rachel Lewis, and Liz Mason on April 13, 2015 outside of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism in Athens, Ohio, encouraging students to vote.

These students knew they were bound to be the source of copious amounts of speculation when becoming involved. It is no secret that there have been some controversies with the Student Senate at Ohio University, particularly throughout the duration of this school year. Making national news, the current president of Student Senate Megan Marzec responded to the Ice Bucket Challenge proposal of the school president, Roderick McDavis, by drenching herself in artificial blood to represent her opposal to Israel.

Also not shy about their opinions, BARE students drew a substantial amount of attention on Dec. 5, 2014 when they protested on the Athens County Clerk of Courts steps in response to the Ferguson case.

Ohio University students, many of which were part of the BARE campaign, outside of the Athens County Clerk of Courts on 1 Court St. on Dec. 5, 2014 rallying while holding signs that say "I Cant Breathe", in memory of Eric Garner's last words, an African American man who was choked to death by the NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo for allegedly selling cigarettes illegally and without tax stamps.

Another major issue that the BARE students work towards fighting is that of student tuition hikes. On this topic, Taylor says, "Transparency is going into affordability. So tuition is going up every year, students are constantly in debt, but we don't really know where our money is going, and when we do, it's too late for us to revoke that decision and then we have to rally, so an example of that is the $1.2 million dollar house."

Hundreds of Ohio University students outside of Alden Library at 39 Park Place in Athens, Ohio, on March 31, 2015, participating in the "bat rally" against the university's decision to enter a $1.2 million lease agreement to house President McDavis and his wife due to a bat infestation in their current home.

Photographer: Raichel Jenkins

Ohio University senior Ryant Taylor protesting during the "bat rally" at 39 Park Place, Athens, Ohio on March 31, 2015.

"We got like three or four hundred people to sign the petition, and some of the faculty members were actually in it," said Jazzmine Hardges, a freshman at Ohio University majoring in public communications and advocacy who ran for the position of "SAC at Large" under the BARE ticket.

Just a few weeks ago, the university came forward and stated that they were unaware of the details regarding the verbal agreement and are no longer entering into the lease.

Making those kinds of changes is rewarding enough for many of the BARE students that it deems official positions under student government unnecessary, including Ryan Powers, a student who ran for the position of "At Large" and is also a member of New Blac Live Active Coalition. "To me, BARE was one step in growing the student movement at Ohio University. Although we didn't win the senate election, we shared our ideas with many students on campus. BARE was basically a ticket run by the Student Union, so even though we didn't win, the Student Union still exists and it will keep educating students. We will keep challenging the university in the effort for full democracy at Ohio University," stated Powers.

The Loss of Student Senate Positions Does Not Discourage BARE Students

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