Bill banning DEI in public colleges opposed by students, teachers

COLUMBUS (AP) — Students, teachers and civil rights groups are calling on Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to veto legislation that would ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs and make other sweeping changes to public colleges and universities in the state. The bill arrived on DeWine's desk Wednesday, according to a spokesperson, giving him 10 days excepting Sundays to either sign it, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. The American Historical Association, American Civil Liberties Union, K-12 unions and Democrats all are calling on the Republican governor to reject Senate Bill 1, which also would prohibit faculty strikes and limit classroom discussion. DeWine has said that he plans to sign the measure, which sparked hourslong hearings and protests attended by hundreds of demonstrators. The measure was a priority of the GOP-supermajority Legislature, where an amended Senate-passed version cleared the Ohio House 59-34 last week and a final version cleared the Ohio Senate 20-11 on Wednesday. Besides banning DEI programs and rescinding certain collective bargaining and tenure protections for faculty, the bill also would make schools promise not to influence student views on "controversial" topics, require every Ohio college student to take a three-hour civics education course and impose dozens of other programmatic and administrative changes. Schools that violated its provisions would risk losing their state funding. The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Jerry Cirino, a Cleveland-area Republican, has said the bill aims to protect "intellectual diversity," not dampen it. During Senate debate on the bill in February, Cirino called DEI a "debacle" that "has morphed into institutional discrimination" against conservative perspectives. Republican President Donald Trump has made the same argument as he has taken aim at DEI programs at the federal level, to the relief and delight of many conservatives. A group of federal employees targeted for dismissal because of their involvement in such activities has filed a class-action complaint against the administration. And on Thursday, a federal judge temporarily blocked another of the president's DEI-related executive orders affecting federal contractors and grant recipients. ACLU of Ohio Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick said the bill "sends a clear, harmful message to students that their unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are not welcome in Ohio." "Further, the exceedingly vague and contradictory language regarding the banning of so-called 'controversial beliefs or policies' creates a slippery slope for faculty and administration," she said in a statement. "This could lead to faculty avoiding any such topics in classrooms for fear of retaliation."