The billboards are jarring — bold white text in all caps laid over images of police tape and crime maps. “Tell me you go to Ohio State (without telling me you go to Ohio State),” announces one billboard showing a car with its tires missing. The implication is clear — getting your tires stolen is part of attending Ohio State.
The signs, located near the flagship campus, in Columbus, are the work of a group of Ohio State University parents that is trying to shine a spotlight on what they see as the university’s failure to curtail off-campus crime. The group, Buckeyes for a Safe Ohio State, started after a 23-year-old student, Chase Meola, was shot and killed at an off-campus residence in 2020.