On September 17^th, 2026, the FREE Center held its 2026 kick-off event, titled “Sexual Violence and Accountability at OSU and Beyond: Feminist Conversations.” The event was held in Thompson Library and was attended by OSU faculty, staff, students, and community members.

The day began with a panel discussion. The panel consisted of Dr. HB Franchino Olsen, an Assistant Professor in the College of Public Health’s Division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion; Camille Hébert, Ohio State professor and lawyer; Eliza Sabo, campus advocacy coordinator with the Sexual Assault Response Network of Central Ohio; and Syreeta Palackdharry, OSU alum and sexual violence advocate. The discussion surrounded the culture of sexual violence at Ohio State and globally, existing resources available for survivors, and what institutional accountability and transparency look like. For example, Eliza Sabo noted, “We need more people who aren’t required to report to Title 9. SARCO had 8 staff in 2017. Now there’s only me. For 100,000 students. So what can we do? We could find more advocates to both do outreach AND be there to support survivors.”

During the lunch break, attendees were invited to decorate a fabric square with a message to survivors of sexual assault. The squares were sewn together to create a banner, which was then carried onto the oval by attendees.

In the afternoon, Chaitanya Lakimsetti, Associate Professor of Sociology, and Vanita Reddy, Associate Professor of English and Core Faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies, both from Texas A&M University, hosted a book talk. They are co-editors of the book, “#MeToo and the Politics of Transnational Feminism.” The book is a series of essays that explore the global politics of the #MeToo movement using case studies of feminist movements from countries around the world. Their talk provided the audience with a new perspective on how feminism looks differently worldwide. On Friday, September 18^th, graduate students gathered for a seminar to discuss Transnational Feminism and Academic Censorship.

The FREE Center is housed in the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, is a hub for community-engaged feminist research and teaching that brings together individuals from across the university and Columbus community. Currently, the FREE Center is accepting applications for Graduate Student Small Grants and Research and Connection Cluster Funding. Additionally, the FREE Center hosts bi-weekly writing sessions for graduate students, titled “FREE Writes.”

To learn more about the FREE Center and upcoming events, visit the FREE Center website.