Several student protesters at the University of Akron leaned on crutches, wrapped their heads in bandages and called themselves the Walking Wounded on Tuesday.
“We have been scarred by [Scott] Scarborough. The president of this university has hurt us with all the mistakes he has made,” said Kelsey Watson, 22, a senior at UA and president of the Akron chapter of the Ohio Student Association, which organized the protest. “We’re protesting because Scarborough said he’s not going anywhere. We want him to leave now, before he creates more damage and is forced to leave.”
About 15 protesters gathered outside the student union near Buchtel Hall, the location of the president’s office and offices of the administrative staff.
A sign propped up against an area next to the protesters listed several reasons why they “don’t believe in Scarborough.” The list included layoffs, “unnecessary rebranding,” and numerous other concerns.
The protesters held signs with messages such as “I am a student, not a dollar sign” and “Mistakes were made. We demand an apology.” Participating students and former faculty members chanted and pointed to Buchtel Hall as students walked by during the lunch break from classes: “Tell me what hypocrisy looks like; This is what hypocrisy looks like.”
UA public relations spokesman Wayne Hill walked by the protest rally to enter the student union to grab a bite to eat. He said president Scarborough was going about his regular routine of meetings and discussions.
Tuesday’s protest activities “were similar to others that have been held in recent times so we don’t have any additional comments to offer,” Hill said.
As graduate students Ashley Blair and Tom Guarino passed out “Scarborough Must Go” wristbands and bumper stickers, some students stopped to engage in conversation, while others walked by briskly, either taking the free goods or saying, “No thank you.”
Rachael Doyle, 21, of Barberton said enrollment is down for a reason at UA.
“What does psychology have to do with a ‘Polytechnic university?’ ” she asked, referring to the rebranding of UA as Ohio’s Polytechnic University. “The rebranding devalues and degrades all the other degrees and the hard work of all teachers.”
UA student Shana Pryor, 23, of Medina, also a psychology major, said she personally met with the president a year ago about rebranding the university.
“He said he wasn’t going to rebrand it, but in that 45 minutes, he showed me an extensive PowerPoint on numbers and said how he wanted to get the University of Akron up on the same level as Ohio State,” she said. “But he rebranded it anyway and didn’t listen to faculty members. He doesn’t care what anybody else thinks.”
Pre-med honor student Hunter Korsmo, 18, of Texas, said he prefers not to associate with protesting.
“It seems too political,” he said. “If there are problems it seems like there could be other ways people can fix them. This seems too flashy and a waste of time.”
Tuesday’s protest is one of many since last year, when the president first rebranded the university.
John Bee, a retired professor emeritus of communication and former associate dean at the University of Akron, was among the speakers at the informal gathering.
He read a mock resignation letter he said he wrote for Scarborough.
“For my callousness and disregard for and uncomprehension of the core values of the university; for my implementation of policies that subvert and degrade those values; for my condescending and dismissive treatment of my university colleagues and this community; for the distress and personal harm I have needlessly inflicted on this university and all those whose lives have been closely linked with it,” the letter read.
Marilyn Miller can be reached at 330-996-3098 or mmiller@thebeaconjournal.com.