At least 14 Ohio colleges and universities have joined with more than 200 of their counterparts nationally, vowing to defend the admission of students who are disciplined for participating in peaceful protests.
High school walk outs started across the country after 17 teachers and students were killed during a Valentine’s Day shooting at their Florida high school. Many of the protests, including in Ohio, have called on Congress to pass stricter gun laws.
A Texas school administrator threatened to suspend students who participated, and that’s when colleges and universities decided to take a stand. Stefanie Niles is the president-elect of the National Association of College Admission Counseling.
“We are sensitive to the fact that every institution at the high school level has to make a choice how they will handle their students but from our perspective, if students are doing so in a manner that’s productive, again, we would not have that impact their admission decision.”
The national group represents admissions officers at institutions across the country.
In Ohio, schools including Oberlin, Case Western Reserve, Ohio State, and the University of Cincinnati have signed on to the pledge, saying they will not hold a suspension for participating in a protest against applicants.
