A bill combating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in Ohio’s colleges and universities recently advanced in the state legislature.
The Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, sponsored by state Senator Jerry C. Cirino, passed on Dec. 6 through the Ohio House Higher Education Committee by a margin of 8-7 votes, as recorded on the state legislature’s website.
[RELATED: ‘Discrimination, Exclusion, and Indoctrination’: State rep shares Iowa’s efforts to combat DEI]
Senate Bill 83, as it is also known, is “designed to ensure free expression on campus and in the classroom” and “will permit the marketplace of ideas to flourish, which is the ideal environment for any educational institution,” according to Senator Cirino’s post on the Ohio Senate website.
More specifically, the bill will require state colleges and universities to “[p]rohibit any mandatory orientation or training courses regarding DEI, unless the state institution determines the orientation or course is required for certain specified purposes,” “Affirm and declare that the institution will ensure full intellectual diversity,” and “Seek out invited speakers who have diverse ideological and political views,” as listed by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
The legislation has received pushback, with Sara Kilpatrick, executive director of the Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors, saying that “[t]his bill attacks academic freedom; it would suppress free speech in college classrooms and on college campuses,” as reported by ABC.
Republican Representative Gayle Manning, who initially seemed to oppose the legislation, eventually voted to move the bill forward when it came before the committee, agreeing to support the bill when a measure stopping faculty members from striking was cut out of the legislation, as reported by local Ohio radio station WYSO.
The Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act was first introduced in the state senate on March 14, 2023 and was passed in the senate on May 17. It then moved to the House Higher Education Committee for passage, and on Jan. 3, it was transferred to the House Rules and Reference Committee.
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