Robert Baker opened his political-science class at Wittenberg University last Wednesday with a pop quiz. For class credit, the students would have to share something they found memorable about the presidential debate the night before.
It just so happens that Wittenberg is located in Springfield, Ohio, which has been jolted into a media firestorm over lies about the city’s Haitian residents killing and eating pets.
Students in the course hold a range of political beliefs. Some are Democrats, others Republican, and a few are independents. Regardless of party affiliation, a majority were “flabbergasted” that Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, repeated those false claims to millions of viewers, Baker said. Trump’s running mate, U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance, Republican of Ohio, then doubled down, despite no evidence.
“They’re not appreciating the fear that they’re living under as a result of the national spotlight that this has created for us,” Baker said of his students.
Over the past few days, Wittenberg and another Springfield-area college have received violent threats. On Monday, Wittenberg administrators decided to cancel in-person classes and events for the rest of this week.
Local Springfield officials have disputed the pet-eating claims, as has Ohio’s Republican governor, Mike DeWine. That hasn’t stopped politically fueled threats from disrupting the city’s hospitals, elementary schools, government offices, and now, colleges.
“Wittenberg University received two additional threats to campus from the same email address from which we received previous threats,” administrators said in an email to the students and staff on Monday. “In light of the latest threats and in context of ongoing threats of violence on campus and around Springfield, we have made the decision to go fully remote for the rest of the week.”
At Clark State College, a two-year institution, this week’s classes have also been moved online, and an open house celebrating a $17-million renovation on the campus was rescheduled.
“We understand the anxiety that such incidents can cause and we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness and care,” Clark State College officials wrote in a statement on its website. “As a proactive measure, Springfield Police will also increase their security presence on campus, and we are working with our wellness team and partners to provide additional counseling services.”
According to the colleges’ statements, Springfield’s police department is working with the FBI to investigate the threats.
At Wittenberg, Baker said some students are afraid that they’re not safe on campus. The threats have also complicated instruction, making it a “headache” to prepare for online learning and limiting student participation, he said.
“For a lot of professors, we knew what we were going to talk about. We prepped for the week, and we were ready to go and walk into class and lead a conversation or a presentation,” Baker said. “That didn’t happen.”
Instead, Baker spent Monday transitioning his classes to Microsoft Teams and consoling students.
Lori Askeland, a professor of English at Wittenberg, had to cancel a planned field trip for her students this week to the Great Council State Park.
Before the threats came, Wittenberg was already dealing with a crisis: the fallout of significant budget cuts. This month, the president announced that nearly 70 positions would be eliminated, resulting in the layoffs of 40 faculty and staff members. That grim figure was not the worst-case scenario: University leaders had proposed eliminating 60 percent of the institution’s full-time faculty by the end of this academic year. Administrators have said they plan to rely more heavily on online course-sharing to fill gaps in academic programs.
Askeland said she fears that the cuts, which also eliminated the department of world languages and cultures, leave the university underprepared to address the violent threats outside of canceling classes.
“I am concerned about the effects and ramifications of these cuts for many reasons, including how we will respond to the current multicultural reality of modern Springfield, our home, as well as of our beautiful and diverse student body,” she said.
For professors at Clark State College, which started its 12-week term on Monday, the quick pivot to online learning is unearthing challenges first presented during the pandemic.
“Many of those needs are similar, such as a computer, strong WiFi, and an appropriate workspace to attend a class,” Terry Filicko, a professor of arts and sciences at the college, wrote in an email to The Chronicle.
Those obstacles for students and staff, Filicko added, are now coupled with trauma from racist rhetoric directed against the community.
Springfield, located just west of Columbus, had around 50,000 residents in 2020. In the past few years, the city has seen an influx of 12,000 to 15,000 Haitian migrants. The rapid population growth has put a strain on some of the city’s resources, such as its health-care system.
“We will continue to do everything we can to help the community deal with this surge of migrants,” DeWine said in a news conference last week.
In an interview with ABC News, DeWine pushed back against fellow Republicans who have criticized his handling of the migrant surge. “They came to Springfield to work,” he said of the Haitian migrants.
