Shameful Ted Carter sanctioned an armed invasion, putting Ohio State student in harm's way
Michiko Hikida is an Ohio State University associate professor of elementary language arts.
I couldn’t believe someone left me in charge of so many little people my first year as a teacher 20 years ago.
I taught third grade for a few years and the fourth grade and eventually fifth grade before returning to college for a PhD. I started teaching preservice teachers at Ohio State University in the fall of 2015.
There is one thing that has been consistent in all those years of teaching. For 20 years, I have planned for how best to protect my students from the potential of an armed stranger invading our learning space.
Your goons crushed protester's rights. Ted Carter, you turned campus into military zone.
I used to imagine dropping my little ones out the window and telling them to run to the group home next door or to Aaliyah’s grandmother’s house on the corner.
Now, I lay awake at night and visualize ways out of the building.
I imagine which pieces of furniture will make the best barricades, and how to block the windows in the door. My first semester here I had a student with a neuro-degenerative disorder and used a walker.
No longer a proud Buckeye. Ohio State president using dog whistle to muzzle free speech
I arranged to have two other students to use a chair to wheel her to the stairs and then carry her down.
For my entire professional career, I have imagined putting myself between an armed person and my students because that’s my job.
Watching those officers in riot gear stream onto the Oval April 25 night, knowing that I was too far away to help and that you, OSU President Ted Carter, sanctioned armed strangers to invade our learning space makes me sick.
It is our job to protect the young people in our care as they learn to stand up for what they believe, as they learn to fight for what they believe is right.
How dare you put them in harm’s way. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Michiko Hikida is an Ohio State University associate professor of elementary language arts. She's also a member of the Franklin County Community Restorative Justice Circles.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State president sanctioned a campus invasion, endangering students
