The Ohio Senate approved the comprehensive higher education reform bill, Senate Bill 1, on Wednesday with a 21-11 vote. The bill will overhaul Ohio’s public universities and community colleges, with provisions including the banning of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, limiting faculty strikes, and restricting certain foreign partnerships.
Provisions in the bill include annual faculty evaluations with student and peer input, a required civics literacy course, and increased university authority to eliminate underperforming programs. It also reduces university trustees’ tenure from nine to six years and grants them more control over faculty decisions.
While supporters argue these changes are necessary to address concerns about liberal bias in academia, align higher education with state values, and improve efficiency, critics warn they could stifle academic freedom, limit open debate, and marginalize important academic programs, particularly in areas vital to student development and intellectual diversity.
Speaking to the statehouse bureau Wednesday, Governor Mike DeWine said, “We’ve allowed the culture in some universities or in some places in the university to stifle free expression. I think that’s a mistake. The politically correct way of looking at things is sometimes stifling and does not allow students to feel free to explore and talk and exchange ideas.”
Senator Catherine Ingram, D-Cincinnati, said in a statement, “This bill is like fishing in Lake Erie with grenades.”
Though some amendments were proposed to address these concerns, they were largely rejected by Republican lawmakers.
The bill now moves to the Ohio House, though the governor has not fully committed to signing the bill until it is finalized.
