More than 100 Kent State University students gathered in the middle of campus at Risman Plaza on Wednesday afternoon to protest the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.
Sign-carrying students chanted, “Betsy wants to see us fail, public schools are not for sale.”
Some signs portrayed DeVos as a wealthy Republican donor with no experience in public education. Others read “If DeVos doesn’t need a degree why do I” and “Education is a right for all people, not just for those with money, power or conservative Christian beliefs.”
“It’s our first big event. We are made up of several organizations that focus on political, social and environmental issues,” said Nina Darden of the KSU Student Power Coalition, which sponsored the hourlong event.
The confirmation of DeVos, Darden said, “really sent a message that the voices of people who have been calling their elected officials to not confirm her were ignored.
“As students of a public university we feel that it’s really important to have a qualified individual heading our department,” she continued. “And especially with Kent State’s history of activism on campus, we feel it’s really important to get our voices heard right now. … We want everyone to know that this is really important and the decisions that may be made possibly in the future may affect our lives and the lives of children.”
Another student, Kristina Lattime, 22, of Richfield, said DeVos’ decisions will affect students, professors and teachers unions.
“She’s unqualified and does not have our best interest at heart. It’s unbelievable to me some of the things she is proposing. She wants to eliminate [University Information Technology Services] for students with disabilities and she … favors charter schools and vouchers” over public schools, Lattime said. “She bought her seat with her $9.5 million.”
Student Brian Dipaoll, 22, said public education is needed. He held a sign that read “I march for our teachers, our students and our future.”
Many of the students directed their attention to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio.
Protest leader Claire Bobel, 20, used a bullhorn to shout out Portman’s telephone number — 216-522-7095 — and asked the students to use their cellphones to let him hear the protest.
The protesters marched eight to 10 blocks to “The Rock,” the university’s famed boulder that has been spray-painted and adorned regularly over the decades to call attention to a number of causes.
On the way there, two protesters placed a Love Trumps Hate sign on top of a Trump/Pence sign in a dorm window.
A man, who seemed to come from nowhere, snatched the altered sign, tore it up and carried the pieces away as he shouted, “Trump won the election fair and square, so get over it.”
A protester shook her head and said, “So much anger. We are protesting Betsy DeVos as education secretary, not Trump.”
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com or follow her on Twitter @MarilynMillerBJ .