Move-in week banners: Harmful or humorous?

The first two appeared in front of OU student male-occupied homes, while the third was draped on the front of an OU student female-occupied house. A fourth banner appeared on an East State Street student rental: “Black Out or Drop Out.”

All apparently were removed after Move-In weekend.

The bed-sheet banners follow a general trend seen on many campuses during Move-In periods, when upperclassmen living off-campus insouciantly and suggestively welcome freshman women, often directing the comments toward mom and dad.

Some critics of the banners view them as simply distasteful, cheap jokes aimed at new students; other critics view them as examples of a culture that perpetuates misogyny, sexual assault and alcohol abuse on college campuses, encouraging an environment where some women and the LGBT community do not feel comfortable even walking past the houses that fly such banners.

Meanwhile, other students and community members say the banners are harmless parodies, meant to poke fun at college life, and are part of an innocuous tradition on college campuses.

The banners do appear to be a tradition at OU (for at least the last 10 years) and other schools across the U.S. with a heavy party culture or strong fraternity/sorority presence.

Notably, the national headquarters of Sigma Nu Fraternity suspended its Eta Chi Chapter at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia last weekend because of banners the fraternity chapter had draped on its fraternity house. Banners publicized in media accounts read: “Freshman daughter drop-off” with an arrow pointing to the door of the fraternity, and “Go ahead and drop off mom too…”

The bed-sheet banners are not restricted to simply Move-In Weekend, however. One banner last year flown by a student house on High Street during High Fest (March 2014) read, “‘yes’ means ‘yes’ and ‘no’ means ‘anal’,” which prompted strong reactions from the community.

Many students interviewed on Mill Street in Athens on Tuesday  (most of whom live in that “party neighborhood”) said the signs at OU are humorous and not problematic.

One of the OU student renters of the house on Mill Street with the “bean flicked” banner (who declined to give his name), said the banner was “just a joke, and not meant to be taken literally.”

“Colleges across the country put them up,” he said.

Melanie Nipper, an OU junior who lives on Elliott Street, said as she was walking on Mill Street Tuesday that the banners are not humorous.

“Whether it’s male or female or intersex or whatever (gender of person who posts the banners), it’s still harassing,” she said.

Nipper noted that a lot of the culture of harassment at colleges that are labeled party schools is supported by fraternity and sorority parties and drinking traditions.

Roommates Tyler Finkler and Ty Black are both OU juniors who live in the apartment above the women who hung the “freshman boys” banner over a railing. Although the women weren’t available for a comment when this reporter stopped by, Finkler and Black both approved of the sign.

“They’re obviously not trying to have people be offended by it,” Finkler said. “They want to make people laugh. I think everyone has a good sense of humor around here.”

Kelly Danaher, another OU student who also lives on Mill Street, said Tuesday while walking her dog on Mill that she thinks the banners in Athens were “really funny.”

“No girl is actually going to say stuff, like, ‘she likes butt stuff,’ and make that public,” she said. “… I don’t think it’s ever serious.”

OU student Alyssa Ensminger, a member of community activist group F**kRapeCulture, said Tuesday that the signs are a reflection of serious issues in Athens.

“Not only are these signs which target freshmen and ‘18… ish’ students potentially targeting people under the legal age of consent (16 in Ohio), but they also represent forms of sexual harassment,” she wrote. “I see these suggestive banners as micro-aggressions of sexual violence that contribute to a culture that makes individuals of all genders – but, especially women – feel uncomfortable and unsafe walking around campus.”

Rachel Baker, an OU student who recently started an anti-harassment Twitter (@SpeakUpOU) page, said Tuesday that “any environment where sex and drinking alcohol are advertised to occur simultaneously is somewhere I would avoid entirely.

“… A person under the influence of alcohol cannot give affirmative sexual consent regardless of their age,” she wrote. “This is a toxic environment all around, which condones and even encourages rape/sexual assault, and the fact that they feel comfortable enough to put up banners broadcasting their intentions to consume alcohol and solicit sex is disturbing and indicative of a complicity in rape culture.”

OU provided a response to the banner situation on Wednesday afternoon

"Ohio University does not condone such messaging, and we certainly do not believe that this off-campus language reflects our values," public relations manager Dan Pittman wrote. "During Move-In Weekend, numerous members of the Bobcat Family successfully showcased their commitment to OHIO’s values. For example, more than 1,100 volunteers assisted students moving into their residence halls, and the Campus Involvement Center ramped up their passion for educating students on what it means to be a “Bobcat Family Member 24/7.” 

Such efforts, Pittman continued, are "just a snapshot of the commitment and values that we know to be true of OHIO’s community members."

In an article on thefire.org – a website run by FIRE, a free speech advocacy group that helped a student successfully sue OU last year –  writer Sarah McLaughlin argues that colleges must respect the students’ freedom of speech, especially in an off-campus setting.

Citing case law from 1973 and 1993, McLaughlin points out that courts have a history of upholding “crude student speech” as protected under the First Amendment. She said recent threats from Old Dominion University and Ohio State University administrations to hold students who hang offensive banners accountable for violating the student code of conduct are not tenable.

“ODU and OSU, like all public universities, are not the arbiters of what students can and cannot say off campus,” she wrote. “They can’t even ban crude speech on campus. If students are found to be in violation of student codes of conduct solely for the content of these banners, ODU and OSU will have run afoul of the constitution.”