On August 24th, dozens upon dozens of tables were set up for the OSU Student Involvement Fair, winding from one side of the Oval to the other. Excited campus students representing various groups and organizations set up their displays, laughing with one another. Stations of water bottles in ice were placed here and there for people manning the tables to drink, as the high temperatures and humidity called for hydration. OPEEP’s table in the “departments” section was nestled among invigorated professors advertising their course offerings.
As the students descended upon the Oval around 4:00pm, the sound increased substantially. People staffing the tables were yelling out to the students walking by, calling them over, and asking them to take a flier or talk about classes they could take. Dr. Morris, Dr. Thomas, and I were positioned behind our OPEEP table, trying to catch peoples’ eyes in the stream of bodies walking by. Slowly, students started to take time to look at our fascinating quotation posters (“Can I take one to put up in my dorm room?!”) and learn about OPEEP.
Some students had heard about OPEEP or had even taken a class with us before, while others had never heard of a program like ours and were excited to learn about the ways that OPEEP is providing opportunities for justice impacted people to access higher education. Soon, we had lines of people waiting to speak with us. We handed out many posters, added lots of followers on Instagram, and spread the word about OPEEP!