Don't say diversity

ATHENS, Ohio — As an anti-diversity, equity and inclusion bill moves through the Ohio legislature, the Ohio University community is bracing for major changes to the institution, including the possible loss of its Women's Center, Multicultural Center, and Pride Center. Senate Bill 1 passed in the Ohio Senate and the Ohio House and now heads back to the Senate for concurrence before going to Gov. Mike DeWine for his signature. It would reshape Ohio's public universities by banning diversity and inclusion programs and practices, preventing faculty from striking, instituting post-tenure reviews for faculty, requiring "intellectual diversity" in the classroom, and more. The presidents of Ohio University and other public universities jointly decided to stay silent on SB 1 in hopes of gaining a 2% increase in higher education funding in the next biennial budget. But DeWine's budget proposal includes just a 0.1% boost next year. For more news from Columbus go to https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/ Not without a fight Students and the public have staged multiple demonstrations opposing the bill in recent weeks, including several in Athens. "I just can't stop thinking about the students … who are in high school right now and are going to be a part of the new norm that is a university without Diversity Equity and Inclusion in the state of Ohio," OU undergraduate student Mia Walsh told the Independent after a protest March 12. "I think of those students, and my heart breaks for them." Mia Walsh speaks at a protest against SB 1 on March 12. Photo from the Athens County Independent by Shiloh Antonuccio Ohio University has already placed the annual Celebrate Women and Black Alumni Reunion events on hold to preemptively comply with changes to DEI at the state and national levels. If SB 1 passes, public universities will have 90 days to become compliant. Patricia Stokes, associate professor in Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, said she hopes OU will not comply with provisions in SB 1 any sooner than it needs to. "SB 1 is all but a done deal at this point, and the university will have no choice but to comply at least with the most clear cut elements of it. But they have a choice as to whether they do it right away or use that 90-day window," Stokes said. "I think it's imperative that they allow this to be an orderly transition, so that people who will be losing their current positions can seek other work, either internally or elsewhere." Ohio University Vice President for University Communications and Marketing Robin Oliver told the Independent, "Some changes will take time to complete, and we would need to act with urgency to ensure compliance within the 90-day window." OU declined the Independent's request for comment on specific changes it would implement should SB 1 become law. The university has made multiple public statements on SB 1 without offering any details of the university's planned response. "These two obligations – to our state and to our mission – are equally non-negotiable and, in many ways, interlinked," OU President Lori Stewart Gonzalez and executive Vice President and Provost Donald J. Leo said in a Feb. 12 statement. "The question, not specifically in light of this proposed legislation but in every situation and every day, is how we effectively fulfill both of these obligations and ensure student success." In a March 3 statement, Gonzalez referred to the university's elimination of race-based scholarship awards last year as part of an ongoing effort to respond to a slew of federal and state policy changes related to DEI. Gonzalez framed the elimination of these scholarships as an "action to ensure our scholarships and programming are open to all." Ohio state Sen. Brian Chavez (R-30), who co-sponsored SB 1, declined to comment for this story, as did Ohio House representative Don Jones (R-95). Ohio House representative Kevin Ritter (R-94) did not respond to a request for comment. Don't blink While OU declined to comment on specific changes that would result should SB1 become law, The Ohio State University has already begun instituting changes to preemptively comply with the bill, providing a preview of what is to come. At OSU, these changes have included the elimination of its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and Center for Belonging and Social Change, and the elimination of 16 staff positions, according to The Columbus Dispatch. Ohio University has three centers as part of its DEI initiatives, including the Women's Center, Pride Center, and Multicultural Center. The centers would likely close should SB1 become law. The bill would prohibit "continuation of existing diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or departments" as well as "establishing new diversity, equity, and inclusion offices or departments." Walsh, who is studying journalism and Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, said the university's DEI initiatives — especially the Multicultural Center and Pride Center — have enriched her experience on campus. "I can't disentangle my college career from diversity, equity and inclusion," Walsh said. "If I try to imagine my college career without those three things, there's no point in even coming here." United Campus Ministry acting executive director Ari Faber, also an OU alum, spoke at last Wednesday's protest and said they arrived on campus after being "kicked out of my parents' home due to my queer identity." OU's Pride Center was "instrumental in helping me navigate an incredibly challenging and vulnerable period in my life," Faber said. Stokes told the Independent that support for students contributes directly to OU's academic mission. "When we're thinking about … the very kind of core elements of the university's mission — effective teaching and learning — students who have a place where they feel they belong are going to simply do better on all measures of that: grades, retention, time to degree," Stokes said. Patricia Stokes speaks at a protest against SB 1 on March 12. Athens County Independent photo by Shiloh Antonuccio The centers also play a direct role in education, said Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies professor Julie White. "The centers provide educational roles with respect to the student body at large," White said. "So, for example, Black History Month, Women's History Month are times during the year when the centers have been really critical to expanding the kind of educational content that happens in some classrooms and making it available to the student body at large." White added that it is part of "what it means to be an educated person, to take seriously the experiences of people who are less familiar to you, who have life experiences that are not yours." Don't blink, twice Associate Professor of African American Studies Robin Muhammad told the Independent she expects her department will be "targeted for elimination or restructuring." "We're talking about global perspectives, critical thinking," Muhammad said. "This is not fringe-y stuff. It is at the heart of higher education, not just in the United States, but the world." Muhammad said this will affect what students are able to get out of an education at OU. "If we want to be able to tell students that you're going to be able to compete domestically as well as internationally, with other researchers, with other thinkers, with other executives, then we have to be able to say, 'We're going to give you know the diploma that has the kind of content that will enable you to compete right and converse,'" Muhammad said. "It's like saying, 'Okay, well, we're not going to teach math.'" White said she is less concerned about the immediate impact of SB1 on academic programs than on OU's diversity centers, citing conversations with university leaders. "These programs — WGSS and African American Studies, for instance, but also Environmental Studies — perform really important roles in the four year education of undergraduates," White said. She added that curricula in those programs are "already recognized by the Ohio Department of Higher Education as accredited" and that "it's clear" that the programs meet "degree-granting requirements." OU declined to comment on specific impacts of SB1. Tom Hodson, a retired Athens County judge and the Athens County Independent's legal columnist, told the Independent in an email, "The bill does not specifically say those academic pursuits [in WGSS and African American Studies] must be eliminated but there is enough vagueness that I feel the university will be super cautious." "There is enough language in the bill for the university to put those programs on the chopping block," he added. However, eliminating or making major changes to those programs is not the only way of interpreting provisions in the bill, Hodson explained. "One of the major problems with SB1 is its vagueness," Hodson said. "That will be, I am sure, one of the attacks on it in litigation." Muhammad said the combined impact of eliminating departments such as African American Studies and closing the diversity centers would "rob [students] of that intellectual and community-rooted content that students here have just come to expect." That work benefits everyone, Muhammad said, and is particularly important in a predominantly white institution. "We address socio-economic disparity, and if you're in southeastern Ohio and you don't address that, then you're not doing your job," Muhammad said. Stokes said the bill — especially its provisions around post-tenure review and a student complaint process the bill says is intended to ensure "intellectual diversity" — could result in a "chilling effect" in classrooms across the board. How much damage? Should SB 1 pass, Muhammad will call on OU to minimize disruption. "It will be strategic for the university, those who are at that particular table, to find ways to mitigate the damage — that's the most I could expect from it at the institutional level," Muhammad said. Stokes said OU should support marginalized students, including by offering meeting spaces for student clubs representing minority groups and supporting first-generation students and those without access to family wealth. Community organizations are also working to address the likely fallout. United Campus Ministry, for instance, is preparing to host an influx of students, resources, and programming currently supported by OU's Pride Center, Faber said. Community leaders in Lancaster have organized a women's conference in place of the one OU canceled earlier this month, WOUB reported. Meanwhile, Muhammad said, "What people do on the ground — faculty, staff and students — is to continue to protest, push for, argue for, advocate for not being robbed of the essence of who we are." Keri Johnson contributed reporting to this story.