Overhaul of Ohio colleges targets diversity mandates, China and requires U.S. history class
Changes to Ohio classroom rules aimed at bias, an end to diversity training mandates, a ban on partnerships with Chinese universities, and mandatory American history courses are all inside a far-reaching bill to change how students learn and professors teach at the state's public colleges and universities.
Known as the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, Senate Bill 83 would overhaul campus life at Ohio's 14 public universities and 23 colleges.
Course syllabuses would be posted online, faculty couldn't strike during contract negotiations and professors would be evaluated on whether they cultivated classrooms free from bias.
"I like to think of this bill as a course correction, so we don’t end up in Ohio with our institutions more focused on social change than true intellectual diversity," said bill sponsor Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland.
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But opponents think these changes might chill free speech on college campuses and make professors more afraid to share their views.
"I think a lot of this just smacks of what we’ve seen before with anti-critical race theory and culture war legislation," Honesty For Ohio Education Coalition spokesperson Piet Van Lier said. "This is sort of another take at that, and really trying to apply it to higher education."
Here's how the legislation would impact students:
No partnerships with Chinese universities
The bill would ban all academic and financial relationships between Ohio's public institutions and those located in China.
"Besides the obvious national security concerns, everyone was ready to jump on board against Russia after they invaded Ukraine," Cirino said. "In my opinion, communist China and their activities around the world are far more egregious than invading Ukraine."
And Cirino's not alone in those concerns.
In 2022, the University of Akron ended its Confucius Institute program because the Department of Defense restricts research funding to universities that host programs sponsored by the Chinese government.
Cirino's bill would go several steps further, though, banning all partnerships and official study-abroad programs.
"If a student wants to go take classes in China, they are free to go do that, but there can’t be any agreement with an Ohio institution," Cirino said.
Existing programs, like the cooperative engineering education program between the University of Cincinnati's College of Engineering and Chongqing University, wouldn't have to end immediately if the bill passed.
"We’re not asking them to break a contract they currently have," Cirino said. "But we would bar in this bill a renewal of that agreement."
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Ohio University lists two Chinese institutions as two of its 10 Asian studies partners, and Ohio State University has a program called Global Gateway offices, which promotes international collaborations in three countries: India, Brazil and China.
In its 2022 China Gateway report, Ohio State named one Chinese partner university, Wuhan University, and said the two institutions have a four-decades-long partnership. It also listed Shanghai pulmonary Hospital as a potential future partner with the James Cancer Hospital.
When asked about the possibility of winding these programs down, Ohio State University spokesman Ben Johnson said, "Ohio State looks forward to reviewing the legislation and working with our partners at the Statehouse throughout the legislative process."
Mandatory American history classes
Starting in the 2026-2027 academic year, college students would need to pass an American government or American history class to graduate.
"The end game here is to ensure that in the nonsocial studies arena, like engineering, every graduate has some good knowledge of, or at least been exposed to, what I would call the good citizenship standard," Cirino said.
These courses would have the following mandatory reading list:
- Constitution of the United States
- Declaration of Independence
- Minimum of five essays in their entirety from the Federalist Papers
- Emancipation Proclamation
- Gettysburg Address
- Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Students who take advanced placement classes or use the College Credit Plus program could be given exemptions at the discretion of university presidents.
"This seems to be legislators meddling in the work of educators, and that sets a dangerous precedent, said Van Lier, who also works as a researcher for Policy Matters Ohio. "I’m not sure legislators should be mandating what's taught in Ohio’s colleges and universities."
No bias in the classroom
At the heart of the bill, in Cirino's opinion, is a push to ensure that students are free to express their views and beliefs without fear of reprisal.
Universities and colleges would have to "guarantee that faculty and staff shall allow and encourage students to reach their own conclusions about all controversial matters and shall not seek to inculcate any social, political, or religious point of view," according to a copy of the legislation obtained by the Paste BN Network Ohio Bureau.
"That’s really the whole point here," Cirino said. "What we’re seeing not only in Ohio but other parts of the country is a lack of intellectual diversity."
To accomplish that goal, he first started with another piece of legislation that passed in the last General Assembly. Senate Bill 135 will require public institutions of higher education to create formal complaint systems where students, groups or faculty could submit alleged free speech violations.
This bill, according to Cirino, is the next step.
SB 83 would ban universities from requiring mandatory diversity training for staff or signed documents attesting to their support for certain beliefs. Cirino would also ban universities from taking positions on the "public policy controversies of the day" and make creating an "atmosphere free of political, racial, gender, and religious bias" part of annual faculty evaluations.
"They should be training our students to analyze, evaluate, seek the facts and come to their own conclusions," Cirino said. "That’s what education should be."
But Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, has reservations about how this section might be interpreted.
"While that sounds great, it’s so subjective," she said. "The definition of bias can change based on whose standards we choose. I have concerns, but I do want to have an open mind in looking at the language of this legislation."
Publish syllabuses online
Another significant change would require schools to publish online syllabuses for all their classes, and the documents would need to be both accessible to the public and searchable by keywords or phrases.
They would also include the following:
- The name of the course instructor.
- Descriptions of major course requirements, including each major assignment and exam.
- A list of any required or recommended readings.
- A general description of the subject matter of each lecture or discussion.
- Biographical information on the instructor.
Cirino said that "students, taxpayers and parents should have easy access to understanding what courses are all about." But the bill doesn't include an appropriation (money) to cover the costs of getting these systems up and running.
"This is mostly information gathering and IT functions," Cirino said. "We expect the institutions to absorb into their costs."
Impacts for private colleges and universities
Most of the bill deals with operations at Ohio's public institutions, but some changes would apply to private colleges and universities that request money for construction projects during the capital budget process.
"Private colleges certainly have the freedom to run their institutions the way they would like to," Cirino said. "If you’re going to ask for capital dollars from the state, though, we should assure taxpayers that they meet some important criteria."
Schools wanting those dollars would be required to sign a document affirming the following:
- A commitment to free speech protection for students, staff, and faculty.
- No required diversity, equity, and inclusion courses or training.
- It complies with the syllabus requirements as if it were a state institution.
- It has no political and ideological litmus tests in its hiring or promotion policies.
These rules would not apply to public scholarships that students take to private universities.
Columbus Dispatch reporter Sheridan Hendrix contributed reporting to this article.
Anna Staver and Laura Bischoff are reporters for the Paste BN Network Ohio Bureau, which serves the Columbus Dispatch, Cincinnati Enquirer, Akron Beacon Journal and 18 other affiliated news organizations across Ohio.