Members of the Student Government Allocations Committee declined to recommend a proposal to obtain the Campus Center sidewalk from the City of Westerville with funds from from the Student Life Fee.
The chair of Student Government's Student Experience and Campus Climate Committee (SECC) wrote the proposal to address the anti-abortion group Created Equal at the committee's Oct. 26 meeting. The written proposal states that the protests have cast a negative light on the university. The committee suggested a $500 asking price for the acquisition of the sidewalk to be provided by the student life grant, which is funded by the student life fee.
The proposal was rejected with five votes in support, one vote against and one abstention. Senators in opposition to the proposal's dismissal cited hearing disgust with the graphic Created Equal signs among the student body.
Ike Wade, a student senator who voted to deny the proposal, said that he had concerns logistically in buying the land owned by Westerville, stating that it may be a "logistical hell."
Some committee members said they were concerned with the amount requested in the proposal and the maintenance costs of the sidewalk.
If the proposal had passed, it may not have squared with the policies of The City of Westerville or the priorities of Otterbein University.
Adam Maxwell, director of administrative services at the City of Westerville, who oversees the procurement process, said the sidewalk on Home Street cannot be sold under the same city ordinances as a house owned by the city; instead, it is part of the public right-of-way which must be provided to pedestrians.
"Sidewalks are there for pedestrians to move freely on and if a private entity like the university was to buy it, the university would own it and the university could say ‘you know what, we don’t want people walking on the sidewalk, we’re gonna put barricades up, or cones or fencing or I guess for this purpose, we don’t want protesters here, so we’re going to block it off, it’s now private property, we’re gonna block it off and restrict access to it'," Maxwell said, citing his concerns about public safety.
Maxwell said Westerville owns utilities such as water and electric lines which are located underneath sidewalks and roads. Maxwell said cities cannot sell these lines because they service neighboring properties.
"You don't just buy the surface, you're buying everything underneath it as well," Maxwell said.
Christa Dickey, community affairs administrator at the City of Westerville, stated in an email that there were no sidewalks for sale in or around Otterbein's campus. In response to Dickey, SECC Chair Jude Burnside said that the proposal would continue to go forward.
Burnside said the committee would continue to support the proposal because many of the protests at Otterbein have been negative. Even non-disruptive demonstrations, such as one from a group that sought to gather signatures for marijuana legalization at Otterbein last year, Burnside said, have made some students uncomfortable.
"I think no matter what group we get, we’re going to get at least one student that feels uncomfortable with them [Created Equal] being here and as the student experience and campus climate committee, we mostly just aim to make sure students just are comfortable on campus, that they feel safe in this environment and having outside groups, whether they’re positive or negative, it can diminish that.”
La Trice Washington, chair of the department of history and political science, said that student government needs to consider the precedent that limiting a specific group's first amendment rights would set.
"So what student government is saying is ‘let’s limit their [first amendment rights]. I would inquire to ask, how important to the group is the first amendment? Because something we might want to think through is when in fact we effectively start limiting it or creating constraints for other groups, that becomes a precedent," Washington said.
Washington said she wanted Student Government to consider whether the problem necessitates the response that SECC will propose.
"I think they need to think about that piece first, the amount of money that we would have to come up with to buy the sidewalk, let’s say you can, to consider other issues or priorities. Does it warrant that response, is it that high on your priority list?" Washington said.
Burnside said that this should be left to the people who will decide where the money goes.
Editor's note: This article was changed to reflect the proper name of the Student Experience and Campus Climate Committee.
