Student leaders from universities across Ohio held a press conference on Friday to launch their Ohio Young People's Platform, a collective vision and shared strategy for Ohio's future. They simultaneously launched an accompanying coalition of student organizations that will be organizing around the platform together, called the Ohio Young People’s Platform Coalition.

This announcement follows the success of the Ohio Student Power Summit, a weekend convening held Feb. 16 to 18 in Columbus, Ohio. At the Summit, over 100 student leaders and organizers from across 70 student groups and 12 universities, including Ohio State, the University of Cincinnati, Miami University, Case Western, Bowling Green, Muskingum, and many more gathered in Columbus to promote the Young People’s Platform.

“Young people have been at the forefront of change across history. In fighting for adequate systems of healthcare and housing for all regardless of status or identity, we will build a better, a more humane, equal, and prosperous future for ourselves and all generations after,” said Danielle Sun, a third-year biomedical engineering student at Case Western Reserve University. 

“We need to rally, not just to combat oppressive, heartless bills, but also to call for bills that will help the queer community,” said Aveline Clark, a second-year student at the University of Akron. “I believe that together, and with this platform, we can make sure that Ohio’s a state that young queer people can not only live in, but thrive in.”

Isaac Wilson, a third-year aerospace engineering and political science student at the Ohio State University, spoke on the importance of advancing racial justice . “I came to school; I became the vice-president of the NAACP, legislative coordinator of student affairs and more; but I feel like I still wasn’t quite doing enough until the protest for Donovan Lewis, a young man in Columbus who was murdered by the Columbus Police Department. I also worked to provide  testimonies for Senate Bill 83. Working on those two things and leading those initiatives really helped me understand the idea of community and the idea of what we need as a community for racial justice.”

Brielle Shorter, a second-year student at the Ohio State University closed out the press conference. She said:  “The Ohio Young People’s Platform is a driving collective filled with amazing, amazing future activists. Let us forge ahead with determination, knowing that change is not only possible, but is inevitable when we all stand united.”

Next steps for the Ohio Young People’s Platform Coalition include a redistricting Day of Action on March 19, 2024 around the Citizens Not Politicians campaign.

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The Ohio Young People's Platform is a political platform shaped by young Ohioans that lays out a proactive vision for our state’s future that centers the voices, experiences, and interests of young people from different walks of life.