The biggest stakeholders at college campuses – students – testified Tuesday before lawmakers that their voices are being ignored regarding Senate Bill 1, the proposed legislation that would overhaul how colleges and universities operate in Ohio.
“We are not asking for special treatment,” Bobby McAlpine, Ohio State University’s current undergraduate student government president, told the Senate Higher Education Committee. “We are simply asking to be heard by the people elected to represent us.”
McAlpine also said he believes the bill “disregards the voices of those affected – the students who live, learn, eat, breathe and lead in these campuses every single day.”
The legislation, introduced last month, proposes many changes. If passed, it would ban faculty’s right to strike. Professors would need to demonstrate the so-called “intellectual diversity” of ideas to get their courses approved. Critics say it could change how – and what – is taught in classrooms.
Testimony included a letter signed by student leaders from eight universities. They called the bill a “direct assault on the very foundations of our universities.”
“This legislation is not about improving higher education—it is about controlling it,” they said in the letter.
More than 200 people submitted testimony against the legislation. Tuesday marked the first time opponents of the bill were given a chance to speak to the committee. Supporters testified on the bill earlier this month.
Faculty and staff members from colleges across the state testified Tuesday, but college presidents did not.
Senate Bill 1 would end DEI state’s DEI programs
Senate Bill 1 would also end any current and future diversity, equity and inclusion work if passed.
Though, as Signal Ohio reported earlier this month, most of the state’s public colleges already began rolling back that work on their own.
Ohio University student Audrey Ansel works at the institution’s Pride Center for LGBTQ+ students. She told the senators the bill would impact the center’s future along with her own.
“If Senate Bill 1 passes, not only will I lose my job, but I will lose the sense of community that brought me to Ohio and Ohio University,” the North Carolina native said.
Next hearing scheduled for Wednesday
During the hearing, lawmakers introduced a second edition of the bill that included minor changes.
Now, students could get credit for a mandatory civics course the bill calls for if they already completed a similar college-level class in high school. Plus, a previous directive requiring faculty to publicly share their syllabi wouldn’t go into effect until the 2026-27 academic year.
The updated bill says policies regarding so-called “intellectual diversity” won’t stop faculty members from engaging in classroom instruction or discussion.
That language doesn’t go as far as one of the proposed changes Ohio’s education unions requested before Tuesday’s committee meeting. They wanted the bill to underscore that “faculty fully maintain academic freedom and are not forced to teach ideas about which there is no consensus within their academic discipline.”
Testimony was continuing Tuesday afternoon as of this article’s publication. Another committee meeting on the bill is scheduled for Wednesday.
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