A push to overturn Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 has fallen short, meaning the measure nixing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at the Buckeye State’s colleges and universities will take effect, and Buckeye State voters won’t have the opportunity to weigh in on whether to overturn it.
Senate Bill 1, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law in March, requires state higher education institutions to bar DEI orientation and training courses unless they submit a written request for an exception. The bill’s provisions take effect on Friday, June 27.
The measure also limits faculty unions and levies stipulations for their faculty and tenure reviews. The bill’s impending implementation led schools to nix their DEI programs and offices proactively.
According to Cleveland.com, a group of Youngstown State University professors who are members of the school’s chapter of the Ohio Education Association launched a bid to overturn the law. To proceed, they need 248,092 valid signatures from registered voters in at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties. The total is 6% of the ballots cast in the last gubernatorial election.
Thursday was the deadline to collect the signatures. However, according to the report, the group only secured 194,981 signatures from 33 counties.
Had the push been successful, voters could have weighed in on Nov. 4.
“We were told that folks had been active (with protests) before SB1 passed were too tired from those efforts and that it was difficult to organize during the summer, when students aren’t on campus,” Cleveland.com quoted Amanda Fehlbaum, a Youngstown State sociology professor and a lead organizer of the campaign, as saying.
“We raised over $43,000. Our largest donation was $1,000. Small dollar donations. There’s no dark money here,” Statehouse News Bureau quoted Fehlbaum as saying at a Thursday news conference. “It was just a matter of not having enough time.”
Ohio Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, the sponsor of SB 1, introduced the bill at the start of the new session in January. Since then, the measure has drawn fierce opposition from education groups and college and university professors.
“While I would love to take these boxes of petitions and put them on Jerry Cirino’s front door as a visible symbol of how detested this legislation is by the people, we’re instead going to spend some of our remaining campaign funds on a shredding service so that information voters shared with us will not be mishandled,” WCMH-TV quoted Fehlbaum as saying.
While Fehlbaum took a dig at Cirino, the state lawmaker took a victory lap as the new law went into effect.
“This is a great day for Ohio’s college students, their families, and our university campuses around the state,” Cirino said in a statement. “Senate Bill 1 is already making a difference and will help lead a legacy of academic freedom and academic excellence for the future of our great state.
“Higher education plays a critical role in preparing a qualified, educated, and eager workforce that is ready for the careers of the future,” Cirino added. “Those young minds will be economic drivers for Ohio, and it is important that campuses complete the mission of teaching students critical thinking skills, rather than simply what to think. The future of higher education in Ohio is bright and I look forward to the success these reforms will bring."
