(The Center Square) – A plan to ban diversity, equity and inclusion, faculty collective bargaining and mandates certain courses at public colleges and universities is a step closer to becoming law in Ohio.
All that stands in the way of Senate Bill 1 is the House of Representatives, where it stalled during the last General Assembly. However, new House Speaker Matt Huffman, R-Lima, has said he expects passage, and Republicans hope to get it on Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk by March 1.
The bill easily passed the Republican-majority Senate 21-11 late Wednesday – with two Republicans voting against it – after only two hearings and nearly 900 people, organizations and student groups testified on it earlier this week.
College students dressed in funeral attire silently protested a committee vote Wednesday morning. Other students chanted immediately after the Senate vote and were escorted out of the Statehouse by security.
Fourteen witnesses testified in support of the bill.
Sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirkland, says SB1 gives what he calls free speech to students and faculty.
“No student should ever be ostracized, canceled, or have to worry about a failing grade for merely daring to have a difference of opinion with classmates or a professor,” Cirino said. “It is essential for students to learn how to think rather than what to think, and how to listen to opposing views with a respectful but critical ear.”
Cirino says the legislation does not ban discussion of any subjects, but opponents say it’s a form of censorship that limits what students and faculty can discuss by forbidding institutions of higher learning from taking positions on any controversial topics.
“Make no mistake, this bill will harm our students in Ohio,” said Sen. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson. “When universities lose the ability to operate independently, when faculty are silenced, when staff lose their right to advocate for better conditions, our students are the ones who suffer, and Ohio will suffer right along with them. Students want lower tuition and better job opportunities, not big government mandates on classroom discussions.”
With regard to ban diversity, equity and inclusion, the bill bans courses, training, litmus tests, required statements, and spending for initiatives or programs.
It sets parameters around discussions about what it calls controversial topics. Named are climate polices; electoral politics; foreign policy; ban diversity, equity and inclusion; immigrant policy; and marriage and abortion.
“This is about enhancing public education,” Cirino said. “Certainly, I would never take part in anything that would destroy it.”
Others, though, believe it will harm the state’s higher education system and drive students, faculty and business partners from the system that has nine schools ranked in the top 200 public institutions in the country, according to U.S. News.
“Senate Bill 1 is a politically motivated attack on Ohio’s institutions of higher education,” said Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood. “Rather than imposing ideological restrictions and attacking faculty, we should focus on finding solutions to real issues like college affordability, student recruitment, and workforce development. This bill does not contribute to improving the institutions of higher education in Ohio, but will, I fear, erode them.”
