Apr 4 in University District History: Ohio State hosts first meeting of Society of American Indians, first native-led indigenous rights organization. At Ohio Union. In 1911.

Science is the reason you live so long and enjoy things that would have been seen as magic a century ago. Science is the reason you are viewing this post. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Arson: “At an internal all-hands meeting on Friday, NSF leaders announced that they would dissolve the agency’s Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorate based on the budget request, according to two NSF staff members who shared information anonymously in order to speak freely”

There is something deeply sad about the fact that on the same day we get THIS INCREDIBLE PHOTO from the Artemis mission, we also get the White House attempting to defund the very science that protects our planet.

Apr 3 in University District History: Iconic 70s and 80s South Campus bar Papa Joe's completely destroyed in early AM 4-alarm fire. In 1996.

It’s not just Ms. Rachel. The biggest names in children’s educational programming are coming out in force to call for kids to be freed from ICE detention. Here’s “Reading Rainbow” host @mychal3ts.bsky.social outside the Dilley Immigration Processing Center.

This is how countries cease to be great. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/01/n...

may this define her for the rest of her life. she was willing to stoop this low and still got fired. girl, bye.

Apr 2 in University District History: Spring Quarter, Good Weather, Good Times. Campus area McDonald’s (including Ohio Union location), Good Food, Good Price, Hippie Flowers and Stuff. In 1976.

None of this had to happen. All pointless.

i put together a bunch of the photos of dive bar bathrooms i’ve taken over the years and compiled them into a FREE digital zine. check it out if you are a little freak like me who loves grimy spaces marked by the passage of countless human dramas merrittk.itch.io/dive-bar-bat...

That was an awful speech.

It’s days like today that I’m proud to be member and supporter of the @aclu.org

On April 1, 2006, Brian Shaffer was seen walking into the Ugly Tuna Saloona near Ohio State University. No one saw him leave - and he hasn't been seen since. www.dispatch.com/story/news/c...

This is a lot like a Moms of Liberty candidate winning a School Board race and discovering that it’s a thankless, mundane job.

Polling like this usually comes with a chalk outline.

Apr 1 in University District History: 20 years ago. After a night of drinking with friends, OSU med student Brian Shaffer disappears. Last seen at Ugly Tuna in The Gateway, about 1:30 AM. Not a single clue in all these years. One of campus’ most enduring mysteries. In 2006.

Franklin County will give a record-breaking grant to Columbus Pride and other programming by Stonewall Columbus.

Apparently justices of the Supreme Court have no special competence in recognizing practices that are not only emphatically not rooted in medical evidence, but which constitute torture.

Ohio just introduced HB798, an omnibus anti-trans bill that targets every aspect of trans peoples lives. It bans trans people from bathrooms, even in private businesses. It retroactively bans gender marker changes on birth certificates and drivers licenses. It compels misgendering in schools.

📚 “I stand by my decision. I will not change my mind.” RUTHERFORD COUNTY library director LUANNE JAMES 🦸‍♀️ was just fired for refusing to move kids books into the adult section simply because the board doesn’t like what they’re about. Full: www.wkrn.com/news/local-n...

Some good news today. www.wosu.org/politics-gov...

214 days until Halloween!! Home Depot has announced their October offerings (12’ mummy). TransWorld haunt industry convention just wrapped. Easter’s almost out of the way and May Eve’s not far off. Just picked up this Halloween party scene mailed to Mankato Oct 29, 1916. VERY CREEPY.

Mar 31 in University District History: Patrons invited to drink and watch sports from the heated barside pool at storied rock club and sopor enthusiast hangout Sugar Shack, 1551 N 4th St. In 1976.

Trump’s DOJ demanded years of data from Ohio State’s medical school — and nobody knows why www.cleveland.com/news/2026/03...

tl;dr: NIH is running at about 60% of pre-Trump levels and NSF is running at about 20% of pre-Trump levels of funding-outlays (some directorates far below even that). Utterly catastrophic. An unforced disaster for U.S. society, and the world

Oh I’m not sure this is the standard the administration wants to set sweetheart.

Shooting on E 9th Ave. abc6onyourside.com/news/local/p...

Mar 30 in University District History: Social service agency Godman Guild to end its decades-long presence in fast gentrifying Weinland Park neighborhood. In 2021.

A metaphor.

This is the scene from yesterday’s No Kings that really caught my eye. An elderly woman with a walker, braving the chill and massive crowd, marching to save America from a dictator and his minions of hate, ignorance, and incompetence.

Scenes from yesterday’s No Kings protest in downtown Columbus. Up to 20,000 people at the Statehouse. Biggest crowd there in a long time. Over 8 million in the streets in big cities and small towns nationwide.

Mar 30 in University District History: Mean Mr Mustards, 1580 N High, closes after 12 years. A mainstay of the 80s South Campus bar scene. In 1996.

Holy New York.

Come join the biggest protest in American history!

"In other words, the perceived worth of higher education has waned just as women have begun to outnumber men within it. Is it really a coincidence?"

Mar 28 in University District History: Photo feature on 15-year-old Judy Garland's visit to brothers of Sigma Chi at Ohio State appears in LIFE magazine. In 1938.

“Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, told the Ohio Oil and Gas Association's annual conference that ‘this organization and its members have great days ahead when (Vivek) Ramaswamy and (Ohio Senate President Rob) McColley are running the show.’” www.dispatch.com/story/news/p...

Be there tomorrow.

Scores of protests will take place across Ohio on Saturday as Donald Trump's second administration moves into its second year. A coalition of groups is coordinating under the No Kings banner as part of thousands of protests across the country. ohiocapitaljournal.com/2026/03/27/l...

Mar 27 in University District History: Browning Dramatic Society announces fund-raising campaign to build open-air theater in Mirror Lake Hollow. In 1917.

We passed a constitutional amendment in 2023 enshrining reproductive freedom in the state constitution. It passed with 57% of the vote. This chucklefuckery by the creeps down at the Statehouse is absolutely contrary to the voters’ clear intent. www.wosu.org/2026-03-26/o...

American innovation has always included the world’s brightest students. When fewer come here, that changes what’s possible.

So are they going to ban performances of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” now? Going to ban performers at Pride? How I wish these creeps would mind their own business and leave Ohioans alone to say and see and hear what they choose. www.wosu.org/2026-03-26/i...

Mar 26 in University District History: Grand Opening of Olentangy Village apartment community on the site of the former Olentangy Park. Inspired by Colonial Williamsburg. In 1939.

OMGs! Is this for fucking real? Not an SNL sketch.

Strange days. www.nytimes.com/athletic/714...

Mar 25 in University District History: Great Flood of 1913. City’s greatest natural disaster. Levee on the Scioto breaks downtown, flooding Franklinton. Much death and destruction. Waters of the Olentangy lap feet from rear door of Townshend Hall. In 1913.

Mar 24 in University District History: University Theater opens with huge ceremony, dignitaries. Dedicated to the memory of football great Chic Harley. In 1947.