Students, faculty are asking Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to veto massive higher ed overhaul bill

Ohio college students, faculty and staff are calling on Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a massive higher education bill that would ban diversity and inclusion on campus and prevent faculty from striking.

Lawmakers concurred with tweaks made to Senate Bill 1 during Wednesday’s Senate session, sending the bill to DeWine’s desk for his signature. DeWine received the bill Wednesday and has 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it. If DeWine vetoes the bill, lawmakers would need a 3/5 vote from each chamber to override it.

DeWine, however, has previously said he would sign the bill.

S.B. 1 would set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, 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 classroom discussion, the bill 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, and forbid “indoctrination,” though that remains undefined. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio’s public universities.

“Republicans showed us they’d rather gamble with our economic future than solve real problems in our state,” Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters said in a statement. “Instead of growing our state, Republicans are driving students, young adults, and business away from Ohio. We’re urging Governor DeWine to do the right thing and veto this legislation.”

The Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to DeWine urging him to veto S.B. 1.

“This legislation is a misguided attempt by overreaching legislators to impose their ideological beliefs on our public universities,” the letter said. “The bill undermines academic freedom, attacks collective bargaining rights, and jeopardizes the future of higher education in our state.”

The Ohio House Minority Caucus also sent a letter to DeWine asking him to veto the bill. 

“You have an opportunity to protect the future of Ohio’s institutions of higher education, and your legacy as Ohio’s governor, by vetoing this bill and requiring the legislature to negate terms that are more amenable to the will of Ohioans,” the letter read.

The ACLU of Ohio wants DeWine to veto S.B. 1 and protect free speech on campus.

“By dismantling DEI structures, Senate Bill 1 sends a clear, harmful message to students that their unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are not welcome in Ohio,” ACLU of Ohio Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick said in a statement.

Anticipating S.B. 1 would pass during Wednesday’s Senate session, members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus urged DeWine to veto S.B. 1 during a press conference earlier that day.

“This is one of the worst government overhauls that I’ve seen to date,” said state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland. “It will not only limit our First Amendment right to free speech, ban strikes and collective bargaining rights for professors, it threatens opportunities for our students, undermines workforce development and disproportionately harms black and minority communities.”

State Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton, said S.B. 1 is toxic, racist and a threat to free speech and academic freedom.

“Since when is diversity, equity and inclusion a bad thing?” she asked. “Why is this necessary? The only answer is, so that we can move backwards, pre-civil rights … progress that this country and this nation has stood for. … Senate Bill 1 turns the ugly page back in history, somewhere we do not want to go, where we should not go.”

Ohio University Journalism School Director Eddith Dashiell talked about how the university’s journalism school did not give out 12 race-based scholarships totaling $46,000 last year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions in 2023.

“The diversity scholarships weren’t designed to discriminate against white students,” she said. “The diversity scholarships were designed to encourage more students of color to come to little old, white Athens, Ohio and get a quality education.”

S.B. 1 will be detrimental to Ohio’s higher education, Dashiell said.

“If it hadn’t been for an extra effort at Ohio University to diversify the faculty, I would still be in Tennessee,” she said. “We also urge that Governor DeWine veto this bill because it’s going to hurt our students. It’s going to hurt those who will benefit from diversity programs and benefit from these diversity scholarships.”

Ohio State University’s Chair of the Undergraduate Black Caucus Jessica Asante-Tutu said this bill runs the risk of forcing Ohioans to move out of state.

“Students learn best in environments that encourage exchanges, where ideas flow freely and where differences are respected,” she said. “This bill stifles all of that.”

As an Olentangy Liberty High School student in Delaware County, Michelle Huang said S.B. 1 hangs over her head as she thinks about applying for colleges this fall.

“The threat of this bill passing is a deterrent from us attending Ohio State in the first place,” she said. “What DEI is actually doing is actually promoting more discourse and promoting more intellectual diversity.”

Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky.