Who's Afraid of a Little Chalk?
After challenging Ohio State University’s chalking ban at a protest yesterday, demonstrators may face student conduct discipline.
A couple dozen people gathered on the oval by the Thompson statue on Friday, September 18 demanding OSU Athletics end their sponsorship by Anduril Industries and to express their views by chalking on campus. An Ohio State University (OSU) representative warned protesters that they violated campus policy.
An Ohio Youth for Climate Justice group member noted the demonstration had two goals: 1) to raise awareness for the Anduril issue and 2) to see how OSU would respond to the chalking action.
Anduril is a military facility manufacturing fighter jets, autonomous drones and artificial intelligence systems in central Ohio. Protest speakers decried their university collaborating with and supporting the military industrial complex and reckless development of AI.
Other issues discussed and chalked on the ground concerned Wexner’s name on campus buildings, Palestinian genocide, climate change, war, divestment from Israel and free speech.
OSU Flunks Free Speech
OSU’s free speech repression recently earned a “F” score from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)’s College Free Speed Rankings. OSU ranked 174 out of 261 colleges, “penalized for two speech controversies, including the disruption of a campus event,” FIRE’s website explained.
Though demonstrators included students, faculty and community members, only the students were threatened with punishment for chalking. The students were not intimidated by the possible repercussions.
“We put a lot of thought into what kind of resistance we might receive from both school officials and police, and we expected that we might receive a dispersal order once we started to chalk around the statue,” one student protester stated, “We were prepared to get the chalking done quickly once we were given the order, so it was a welcome surprise when all we received was a verbal warning about student conduct violations.”
Students deemed the protest a success. As of Saturday morning, no one at OSU had removed the chalking. Student protesters hope their chalk message will put the issues into the minds of all the thousands of people who walk by the Thompson statue daily.
O-H…I-O…Anduril has got to go
Anduril Industries announced their official sponsorship of OSU Athletics in August 2025. Their press statement reported that Anduril is “making a similar long-term investment in the state’s future. Our hyperscale production facility, called Arsenal-1, is one of the largest advanced manufacturing facilities in the nation, and will open its doors just a few miles from campus.” Anduril logos and branding will be “seen across Ohio Stadium, the Schottenstein Center and the entire athletic campus. Additionally, Anduril will serve as the presenting sponsor of Defend The ‘Shoe, a 12-part original series.”
Resistance to the Anduril plant began last year when students and community members learned of the company’s plans for a massive 5-million-square-foot hyperscale manufacturing facility near the Rickenbacker military base just south of Columbus. In April this year, OSU students hand-delivered letters to the university’s athletic director calling for an end to the Anduril partnership. Criticisms of Anduril’s facility include lack of citizen input, environmental impact, public subsidies given to the company, and anti-war sentiment.
“Based on the conversations we had with people curious about what we were doing before and during the event, there are many people who are not aware of what Anduril does,” said a student demonstrator, “This action will not be an isolated event, and in order to keep fighting to get Anduril out of OSU we will need a massive movement. I think that today's protest was a very strong first step in building that momentum for our campaign this semester.”
