Undergraduate Student Government (USG) passed a resolution opposing Ohio’s SB1, a bill which increases the rules and requirements for public higher education.
Topics in SB1 include banning DEI programs, preventing faculty discussion of “controversial topics”, changing the process for faculty’s post-tenure review and retrenchment, requiring intellectual diversity, banning full-time faculty from striking and more.
USG’s resolution said the topics banned in SB1 are critical to student education: the ban of DEI might reduce student understanding of diverse perspectives, the ban of new DEI scholarships will limit the help given to financially struggling students and the ban of striking and faculty’s ability to negotiate better working conditions might affect the teaching capabilities of professors.
Additionally, USG said the discussion of controversial topics in the classroom stimulates academic growth and creates well-rounded students, and getting rid of it diminishes the quality of learning.
USG President Elyse Adrian also wrote an official testimony opposing SB1 at the Higher Education Committee meeting on Feb. 11 in Columbus. Adrian discussed the various issues USG had with the bill.
“Perhaps most egregiously, this bill was drafted without meaningful input from the very people it will affect the most: the students, faculty, and university leaders of Ohio. As elected representatives of our student bodies, we were not consulted on the sweeping changes this bill seeks to impose, nor were the faculty members who dedicate their lives to the education and success of students across this state,” Adrian said. “This legislation is not about improving higher education—it is about controlling it.”
USG called for the Ohio Legislature to listen to the students and faculty affected by the bill and focus on legislation that enhances and supports the higher education experience.
The Graduate Student Senate has yet to pass a resolution about SB1, however, representatives said it in the works and they plan to discuss it further in their next meeting on March 14.
SB1 was passed in the Senate on Feb. 12 and has moved to the House.
