COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some OSU students are pushing back against the university’s plan to regulate the traditional jump into Mirror Lake during the week of the Buckeyes’ football game against Michigan.
The annual tradition attracts thousands of people, and the university previously allowed it. But this year, officials erected temporary fencing around Mirror Lake and said only students issued special wrist bands could take the plunge Tuesday.
An online petition had attracted about 3,000 signers by Monday night but a large group of students took their defiance a step farther by jumping into the lake a day earlier than expected.
A crowd of students and other fans stormed the fence Monday night to make the jump. A Franklin County sheriff’s deputy says authorities decided to remove blockades after people knocked down some of the fence and ran through caution tape.
OSU had said the restrictions were meant to protect students, who organized the preemptive jump on social media.
The petition, posted on Change.org read, in part, “We call on the university to repeal their decision and hold an open dialogue with students and alumni about how best to address the jump.”
A pep rally is scheduled for tonight on the university’s South Oval.