Ohio State University's high-profile commencement last week continues to grab national attention. But not the kind the university wants.
Held in Ohio Stadium with President Bush as speaker, the event has become a rallying cry for free-speech protection.
Ohio State has received more than 1,000 e-mails criticizing its handling of graduation -- mostly complaints that officials tried to silence protesters and took a blatantly pro-Bush stance.
University spokesmen say the cyber chatter has spun out of control and is riddled with inaccuracies.
Much of the flap concerns comments by Richard Hollingsworth, associate vice president for student affairs, who, as the ceremony began, threatened arrest for any disruption of commencement.
"Disruptions, including obstructing the view or hearing of others, will not be permitted. Persons who fail to follow the directions of university and law-enforcement officials will be removed from the stadium and subject to arrest,'' Hollingsworth told the crowd.
He had similarly warned graduates at rehearsal the day before.
Ohio State wanted to ensure that the event stayed focused on the graduation, said Lee Tashjian, vice president for communication. "We, as a university, certainly have no problems with dissent. But what we meant is peaceful, nonviolent dissent.''
The American Civil Liberties Union said OSU was within its rights to set limits, but the warning probably had a chilling effect.
"It's that open-ended structure of the threat, the standardlessness, that makes it pernicious. You don't know where the line is so you censor yourself,'' said Raymone Vasvari, legal director of ACLU's Ohio office, based in Cleveland.
"Is there a right for people to boo in (the stadium)? Probably. Is there the right for 50 people to boo and drown out the speaker? Probably not.''
Yoshie Furuhashi, an OSU graduate student who opposes U.S. foreign policy, among other things, and protested at commencement, said Hollingsworth's comments worked. "There would have been more people protesting if it hadn't been for that remark,'' she said.
A protest outside the stadium drew about 30 people [about 100 by my count!] who complained about Bush's politics and policy in Afghanistan.
By OSU's count, two students and six visitors stood up in the stadium and turned their backs to Bush while he spoke.
"They were politely approached (and told) not to obstruct the view of others, and they complied,'' said OSU spokeswoman Amy Murray. The protesters moved into aisles.
Standing up at graduation differs from rising during a football game because "in a football game . . . everybody at the stadium is standing up. And that's not a 20-minute long play, either,'' Murray said. Bush spoke for about 20 minutes, talking about the value of community service.
Tashjian said many of the e-mails, which ranged from effrontery to eloquence, were copied to various OSU officials, so he doesn't know how many people actually wrote.
"We have zero that came from people at the ceremony,'' he said.
The flood of feedback began after an Associated Press story was posted Friday on Yahoo's Web site that Tashjian said contained several factual errors, including that OSU asked for a round of applause for President Bush. The request was for OSU President William E. Kirwan because it was his last OSU graduation.
One New York watchdog group, Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, sent 27,000 e-mails on Monday, critiquing media coverage of the event. Mikael Elsila, a Brooklyn, N.Y., musician, said the message shocked him.
"To me, that sounds like the beginning of a police state when you can't turn your back on the president,'' Elsila said.
Murray said the ground rules were set by top OSU officials who were mindful of another high-profile visit that went awry. In 1998, protesters heckled, shouted and chanted while U.S. cabinet members tried to discuss relations with Iraq at a town meeting in St. John Arena.
<http://www.dispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/news/news02/jun02/1316590.html> ***** -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>