An Ohio lawmaker has introduced legislation that aims to allow rigorous intellectual debate and safeguard students’ and professors’ free expression on campus and in the classroom.
State Sen. Jerry C. Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced Senate Bill 1, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act. It would nix spending on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives and DEI in the classroom and among faculty members.
It also bans “political and ideological litmus tests” for hiring, promotion, and admissions. It requires periodic post-tenure reviews and disclosure of donations from the People’s Republic of China or its affiliates.
“No student should ever be ostracized, cancelled, or have to worry about a failing grade for merely daring to have a difference of opinion with classmates or a professor,” Cirino said in a statement. “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.”
The American Council of Trustees and Alumni commended the measure.
“It is especially promising to see that the bill requires public universities to adopt policies of institutional neutrality,” Steven McGuire, ACTA’s Paul & Karen Levy Fellow in Campus Freedom, said in a statement. “By instructing these institutions to refrain from taking political sides, Senator Cirino and his colleagues are doing a great service for Ohio students, helping to ensure that they are free to express their views and think about political issues for themselves rather than being indoctrinated or silenced by administrators who misuse their offices to suggest that everyone on campus must agree with them.”
Cirino said he consulted academic leaders and experts for more than three years to draft the bill and met with students, faculty, administrators and trustees to discuss reforms.
It also includes and expands Senate Bill 83, which the Senate passed in 2023 but did not make it to a vote.
“Critics who claim the bill promotes censorship have it exactly backwards,” Cirino said. “Senate Bill 1 will allow students to exercise their right to free speech without threat of reprisal by professors or administrators. It will permit the marketplace of ideas to flourish, which is the ideal environment for any educational institution.
“We want every student in Ohio, regardless of race, gender, or religion to be able to pursue their choice of post-secondary education,” notes Cirino. “However, DEI programs are inherently discriminatory and cannot be tolerated or paid for by taxpayers.”
State Rep. Tom Young, R-Dayton, chair of the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee, endorsed the measure and intends to introduce a companion bill in the House.
“This is transformational legislation that is greatly needed in order for Ohio’s public institutions of higher learning to not only survive, but thrive,” Young said in a release. “While universities face alarming declines in enrollment across the nation, this is a golden opportunity for us to show everyone how to reform the system so that it best serves the students and ensures our graduates a bright future.”
Cirino and Young said the proposals deliver the course correction that higher learning institutions need and ensure institutions don’t focus on “social engineering” instead of their core education missions.
“This omnibus bill addresses deficiencies in public higher education in a way that no other legislation has yet undertaken,” ACTA President Michael Poliakoff said in a release.
“Those opposed to it should take a reckoning of the deterioration of the higher education institutions that were once indisputably the envy of the world,” Poliakoff added. “They might then ask themselves whose benefit are they really serving by failing to embrace these long-overdue reforms. This bill provides a model for other states to follow.”
