From COVID to campus protests: Ohio State's Class of 2024 is prepared for anything

The moment Nandini Rangan walks across the field during commencement in the horseshoe Sunday is one that didn't even seem possible four years ago.

Rangan, 22, graduated from high school during the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020. Instead of sitting next to her peers for a ceremony, her high school hosted a socially-distanced parking lot graduation that families could watch via livestream.

While the pandemic has since subsided, when Rangan and her Ohio State University classmates turn their tassels from right to left Sunday, they'll cap four years of schooling during yet another inflection point as protests over the Israel-Hamas war have embroiled campuses the last several weeks.

Between the pandemic, social unrest and politically turbulent times, Rangan said she feels like she both lost and gained something during her time at Ohio State.

"It's a little bit of both ... I think it's been very eye-opening," said Rangan, a Chicago-area native. "It makes you understand a little better what your values are, what your next steps should be ... You realize who and what are important to you."

Will Ohio State consider canceling graduation due to pro-Palestinian protests?

While the COVID lockdowns that upended life and forced many Ohio State classes online may feel like a distant memory, campus protests have continued right up to commencement.

Hundreds of Ohio State students, staff and professors protested at the university Wednesday in what unfolded as a peaceful demonstration that dissipated at dark. That gathering followed a protest the previous week when 35 people, including at least 16 Ohio State students were arrested.

The protests have spread across campuses nationwide and led the University of Southern California to cancel its commencement.

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The university is taking precautions for graduation Sunday but was not considering cancelling the spring ceremony that takes place annually inside Ohio Stadium. But as thousands fill the horseshoe, it may not surprise anyone if some form of protest occurs.

Eda Sezer, a 22-year-old from Akron studying to be a physician's assistant, said she would be surprised if Ohio State canceled commencement because of demonstrations.

“I don’t think they have a right to cancel graduation because of that. People were just speaking out,” said Sezer, who attended the protest on Wednesday evening.

COVID, campus protests 'primed' 2024 OSU grads to be activists

The class of 2024 has experienced one "national trauma" after another, said Demetri Morgan, an associate professor of higher education who studies activism at the University of Loyola Chicago. But instead of letting once-in-a-lifetime events or protests get them down, Morgan said they've shown resilience and have "rallied."

Without unifying events of the past — such as the 1969 moon landing — bringing people together even in times of unrest, Morgan said the on-and-off turmoil of the last few years has "primed them to be activists."

"Everything, rightfully so, from their vantage point looks like a mess," Morgan said. "This group arrived on college campuses in the midst of the pandemic. They have a right to be frustrated by the way the institutions and the adults and leaders have failed them."

What Morgan worries about is how the Class of 2024 will be able to weather the next several years of their life given they've had to stand up for their beliefs so many times already. Many, he said, are likely to experience burnout sooner than later because of all they've been through.

There's no denying this 2024 cohort has been through a lot, said Pamela Aronson, professor of sociology at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, who studies social movements and transitions to adulthood. Students graduating from college now came of age amid the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, various marches in 2017 following the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, the Jan. 6 capitol riots and an array of walkouts and protests over climate change and school shootings.

Gen Z, Class of 2024 are more engaged in politics, fighting for change

All of that has the ability to shape people and data shows it's likely made the Generation Z members of graduating seniors more involved in activism than recent generations.

At least 32% of Gen Z, which includes Americans born after 1996 are regularly engaged in activism or social justice work compared to 24% of the millennials who preceded them, according to a survey by United Way. Around 56% of Gen Z that are in or attended college have participated in protests to support specific causes, the same survey found.

That level of engagement may need to continue among the class of 2024, who Aronson said will graduate facing economic issues due to continued inflation and high housing costs and mental health challenges as many Columbus doctors and even U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy have flagged an ongoing loneliness epidemic.

"People are affected in lasting ways by the era in which they come of age," Aronson said. "This particular generation had a very strange set of circumstances in terms of growing up."

For Rangan, starting college during a deadly pandemic dramatically altered her trajectory.

When she arrived on campus in 2020, Rangan said it was difficult at first to make friends given most of her classes were not in person and social activities were all but abandoned to prevent the virus from spreading.

She took the extra time she had to focus more on her studies and in the midst of a pandemic, decided to pursue a career in public health. She'll leave Ohio State with not just a bachelor's degree in public health, but also a master's degree — finishing six years of work in four.

While Rangan isn't sure what she'll do next — perhaps health-focused work in a laboratory — she said the last four years and her Ohio State degrees have prepared her for anything.

"I feel like I've been able to adapt easier than someone else who might not have had this experience at such a young age," she said. "It's helped me realize exactly what I want to do."

mfilby@dispatch.com

@MaxFilby

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: From COVID to campus protests: Ohio State's Class of 2024 is prepared for anything