Editors note: The name of a source, Acieno Leipply-Caban, was updated to reflect their identity accurately, Aciano Rosales.

A list of hate crime victims’ names were written in chalk and photos of Kyle Rittenhouse’s victims were passed around as voices echoed throughout the K while students expressed about feeling unsafe because of Rittenhouse’s upcoming Tuesday appearance on campus. 

Aimée Flores, a senior psychology major and president of Spanish and Latine Student Association, said she and Aciano Rosales, a freshmen environmental conservation major and freshman ambassador for SALSA, came together to plan a protest.

“We do represent Spanish and Latino students which is encompassing people who are Black, brown, [and] also white,” Flores said. “A lot of us have felt very disrespectful over the last year, we felt very tokenized by things like Hispanic Heritage Month.”

Flores said SALSA taking part in the protest was a way to show the organization did not participate in performative activism, a type of activism focused more on social popularity rather than devotion to a cause.

“We’re not just here when people want, we’re here when people need us to be,” she said.

Flores’ connections within the university’s administration aided in the organization of the protest, she said. 

Other student organizations which helped organize the protest included Ohio Student Association, United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) and Students for Justice in Palestine.

“The goal is really to have long term connections with a lot of these sort of organizations,” Flores said. “So, we don’t have to worry about things like this happening again and not having anyone to rely on.”

During a testimonial to those in-attendance, Christian Heller, a senior peace and conflict studies major and chair of USAS, said he attended the protest to speak about the safety of the LGBTQ community on campus.

Heller said to prove students’ feelings of vulnerability, USAS conducted a survey which included university students. Of the respondents, 56 of the 60 identified as part of the LGBTQ community and found 56.7% felt unsafe or unwelcomed on campus because of cyberbullying and online harassment. 

The survey found 81% of the students who participated possessed a negative view of the university as a result of transphobia, and 58.3% of the students reported that they expected the university to do more to protect trans students on campus, he said.

“Students even felt they no longer feel safe expressing their gender or sexual identity,” he said.

Yaseen Shaikh, a senior computer science major and president of SJP, gave a testimonial to those in attendance, explaining why he wanted to protest against Rittenhouse’s visit. 

“None of us are free until all of us are free,” he said. 

Eboni Pringle, interim senior vice president for Student Life, and Ben Davis, director for the Kent Student Center and Center for Student Involvement, both attended the protest to talk with students about their advocacy. 

Pringle said she and Davis were happy students showed up on the K to express their beliefs. 

“This is what we want our students to do,” Pringle said. “We want them to engage in our community and use their voice to advocate for things that they believe, so this is something we encourage our students to do.” 

The main purpose of attending the protest and listening to students’ voices was to show support from the administration, Pringle said. 

“My goal is to be a resource and to let students know that they have a resource in administration, and it’s not us against them, it’s us together,” Pringle said. “I’m not taking a stance on what’s right or wrong, I’m taking a stance that our students need our support.” 

Supporting others, specifically marginalized communities, is what Rosales said was the most important part of the protest condemning Rittenhouse. 

“The biggest thing I want people to take away is that this is not for the people who are against us, this is for those in our community who are affected,” Rosales said. “This is to show them that solidarity exists, community exists and we are not alone in this.”

Adriana Gasiewski is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].

Kayla Gleason is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].