College overhaul gets earful

COLUMBUS — More than 700 college students, faculty and staff submitted opponent testimony against a massive Ohio higher education bill that would significantly change colleges and universities. Hundreds of students protested against Senate Bill 1 on Ohio State's campus on March 4, 2025. Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal Fourteen people testified against Ohio Senate Bill 1 for three hours during the Ohio House Higher Education and Workforce Committee meeting Tuesday morning. Committee Chair Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., enforced a hard stop at 12:10 p.m. "If you pass this bill, you sow the seeds of a mass exodus of university students, leaving the economy, workforce, health, and reputation of the state of Ohio worse off than how you found it," said Sabrina Estevez, an Ohio State University student. Stifle, Edith Senate Bill 1 would ban diversity and inclusion efforts, prevent faculty from striking, set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things. For more news from Columbus go to https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/ Regarding classroom discussion, it would set rules around topics involving "controversial beliefs" such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio's public universities. State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 1, which passed the Ohio Senate last month. What's the problem? Those who testified Tuesday talked about the bill's strike ban, tenure review, collective bargaining, classroom discussion regulations, and the diversity and inclusion ban. "S.B. 1 is a censorship bill," said David Jackson, president of Bowling Green State University's American Association of University Professors chapter. "The bill, full of contradictions, will leave stakeholders wondering: What can I say? What can't I say?" Jackson also talked about how tenure protects academic freedom. "Professors with academic freedom are the best thing that students have available to them, because it causes universities and faculty to be innovative in terms of teaching and research," he said. "The chilling effect that would be caused … would be bad, not just for the faculty members, but for the students whom we serve." State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, asked many of those who testified about striking on campus. "Why do you think that faculty at our at our public universities can threaten to hold back students from graduating or earning their degree simply to have it as a bargaining tool in your negotiations?" Williams asked. University faculty strikes are rare in Ohio. Youngstown State University workers went on strike for a few days in 2020 over pay disputes and faculty at Wright State University went on strike for almost three weeks in January 2019 over pay disputes and health care. "It is the only power that organized labor has in a bargaining process," Jackson said. "While strikes are vanishingly rare … the existence of those nuclear weapons, if you will, makes the parties work together and solve the problems that their campuses face, and that's why strikes rarely happen." Among public employees, first responders and corrections officers are not able to strike in Ohio. "The thing in common that those professions have is public safety," state Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, said while questioning Ohio Education Association Vice President Jeff Wensing. "I don't believe that faculty members of higher institutions fall into the category of police and fire and protecting public safety," Wensing said. Impact happens S.B. 1 is already affecting Ohio universities. "Qualified, talented faculty have decided not to put their name in the hat for a search at some of our institutions because of a fear of what kind of environment they will be coming into," Jackson said. A protester climbed a tree during a protest against Senate Bill 1 at Ohio State University on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal). John Plecnik, an associate professor of law at Cleveland State University, theorized S.B. 1 came from a faculty member or an administrator from the University of Michigan. "There'd be no greater way to damage Ohio State or Ohio's public universities," he said. University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student President Madison Wesley shared testimonies from concerned students. "One such student, from Appalachia, fears that the ripple effects of this bill could make it harder for students like her to pursue an education," she said. "A pre-med student recently expressed fears that the implications of this bill could negatively affect the accreditation of Ohio medical schools and, by extension, their future career." Wesley also talked about how the bill poses a threat to Ohio higher education. "This will diminish the value of our degrees and make it harder to attract and retain top talent in our state," she said. Ohio State Professor Erynn Beaton said S.B. 1 is "pulled from the Florida playbook." Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law in 2022 that affects tenured faculty and another bill in 2023 banning the state's public colleges and universities from spending money on diversity and inclusion programs. "I personally know several faculty who have left Southern states due to the legislative environment," Beaton said. Ohio State Associate Professor Ashley Hope Pérez said she used to look forward to her two sons attending public universities in Ohio, but not anymore. "S.B. 1 undermines every Ohioan's right to an effective and complete education," she said. "It also endangers students' competitiveness in a rapidly changing professional landscape." S.B. 1 has faced heavy opposition since being introduced in January. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and alumni protested against the bill last week at Ohio State University. More than 800 people submitted opponent testimony against the bill when it was in the Senate committee. Ohio House Democrats bombarded Cirino with questions about his bill during last week's sponsor testimony. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.