Ohio’s new higher education overhaul law is set to go into effect Friday after a referendum to repeal the legislation, commonly known as Senate Bill 1, failed.
The legislation requires college leaders to make many changes, including mandating a new American civics course for students, requiring faculty to publicly share their class syllabi, and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work and programs.
But the state’s universities and community colleges won’t transform overnight.
The bill doesn’t specify a universal date for these changes to all be completed. Instead, there are nearly a dozen actions leaders must take and deadlines they must meet between August 2025 and June 2026, according to the Ohio Department of Higher Education.
One of the earliest is slated for the end of September.
That’s when institutions must close their DEI-related offices, even though most of the state’s 14 public universities have already done that over the past few months.
Several leaders specifically cited Senate Bill 1 – and, in some cases, related federal pressures – as motivation behind those decisions in announcements about the closures.
That was the case for University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto, who announced Tuesday the university’s DEI-related offices will close.
“I recognize that unwinding deeply rooted efforts around inclusion will undoubtedly challenge core feelings of belonging for many in our community,” he wrote in a letter to the campus community.
Republicans celebrate Senate Bill 1 as ridding bias from campuses
Republican leaders said the state needed Senate Bill 1 to get rid of what they view as colleges’ longstanding liberal bias. Critics worry the legislation will stifle free speech and make campuses less attractive to both prospective students and employees.
Many of those critics shared their concerns during the legislation’s contentious path through the Statehouse. One Senate hearing featured more than eight hours of opponents – including current Ohio college students and employees – appearing to testify against the bill.
But despite the opposition, the bill passed both chambers with ease. And though some student activists pleaded with Republican Gov. Mike DeWine to veto the legislation, he signed it into law March 28.
The referendum repeal effort was considered a long shot because of the large number of signatures needed in a short time. Launched in April, the campaign was headed up by several Youngstown State University professors and did not use paid workers to collect signatures.
Signal Ohio reported Thursday that organizers told the Ohio Secretary of State’s office early Thursday morning that the group would not be delivering signatures because they fell short of the needed 248,092 signatures.
In an email to supporters, organizers said they had collected about 195,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
