Senate Bill 1 disrupts Miami’s academics and culture

Miami University’s academics may be changed after Senate Bill 1 (S.B. 1) goes through the Ohio House of Representatives. The bill was approved by the Ohio Senate last month and awaits approval from the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee before it’s sent to the Ohio House of Representatives floor for a vote.

Ohio Senator Jerry Cirino introduced S.B. 1 as the “Enact Advance Ohio Higher Education Act” to the Senate on Jan. 29. The bill covers a wide range of topics, such as prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at universities and forbidding discussions in classrooms about “controversial topics.”

Cirino previously presented Senate Bill 83 (S.B. 83), the “Enact Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act,” to the Senate on March 13, 2023. The bill passed the Senate before stalling in the House at the start of 2024.

Despite the modifications to S.B. 83, Cirino reintroduced S.B. 1 as the base version of the bill.

For Kevin Reuning, an associate professor of political science at Miami, he said S.B. 1 went further than the original bill.

“S.B. 83 was amended down a fair amount,” Reuning said, “and then S.B. 1 came in as sort of the original version of S.B. 83 with some other stuff added in.”

The Inter-University Council of Ohio, which includes all 14 public universities in Ohio, responded to S.B. 83 on May 18, 2023 with a letter praising certain aspects of the bill, such as supporting the “free exchange of ideas and debate” in classrooms, but also raising concerns about the vagueness of the bill and the prohibition of DEI training.

“DEI is for students with disabilities, veterans with PTSD, minority students and students who are new Americans who may need extra help due to language or cultural barriers,” the letter stated. “DEI helps more students achieve the American dream of success via a college education.”

The timeline for S.B. 83 spanned 10 months, from its introduction in the Senate on March 14, 2023, to its stopping point in the House on Jan. 3, 2024, when three Senate Republicans voted against the bill.

However, Ohio Senators passed S.B. 1 on Feb. 12, three weeks after its introduction.

S.B. 1 mandates universities to allow students to “reach their own conclusions about all controversial beliefs or policies.” The bill defines “controversial beliefs” as any topic that can be considered politically controversial, citing climate policies, immigration and abortion as examples.

Senior political science major Patrick Houlihan, the president of the College Democrats of Ohio, said the vagueness behind “controversial beliefs” opens the door for further censorship.

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“The bigger question is, ‘How do you define politically controversial?’” Houlihan said. “It’s really hard to define that. When you build a term into a bill, into legislation, that is undefined and really broad, that is a tool to shut down speech in the classroom because you’re not going to want to approach that line.”

Photo by Jessica Monahan | The Miami Student
S.B. 1 could lead to censorship of "controversial topics" at Miami.

According to the bill, it doesn’t aim to prevent classroom discussions or debates. Instead, it wants to allow students to “express intellectual diversity.”

Senior public administration major Spencer Mandzak, the state chairman for the Ohio College Republican Federation, expressed support for this clarification.

“It’s not that they want to end the political debates in the classroom,” Mandzak said. “It’s that there shouldn’t be a required side to take.”

S.B. 1 also requires universities to publish their syllabi publicly for every undergraduate course and mandates an American civics literacy course to graduate.

Mandzak said additions like these are beneficial for students, but they are being eclipsed by partisan debates.

“It’s important to split those two different parts of the bill,” Mandzak said. “DEI is its own section because that’s just a disagreement among party lines, and then there’s actual student life benefits that are going to come from this bill that I think are being overshadowed by the actual partisan subject.”

Outside the classroom, S.B. 1 prohibits collective bargaining for faculty workload policies, faculty evaluation policies, post-tenure review policies and policies on tenure. Additionally, it bans full-time faculty members from striking.

Cathy Wagner, an English professor and member of the Faculty Alliance of Miami University (FAM), said these restrictions are an infringement on the faculty’s ability to speak out against unfair treatment.

“[That’s] a last resort,” Wagner said. “Nobody wants to strike, but every worker should have the option to strike if they’re being treated so badly that they deem it necessary. We shouldn’t take away that right from people no matter what kind of worker they are.”

Wagner also disagrees with the bill’s stance on publicizing syllabi, as she claims it would require faculty members to publicize their contact information and course schedule as well.

While the university responded to S.B. 83 two years ago, Miami has remained silent on S.B. 1 so far. For Houlihan, the lack of a response raises concerns about how the university will handle policy changes if the bill does get signed into law.

“It’s really disappointing to see the Miami administration not condemn this bill and not try to get the legislature to listen,” Houlihan said. “They have more power than we do as students. They’re the ones that can go to the state house and talk to these people.”

The House Workforce and Higher Education Committee received S.B. 1 after it passed the Senate with a 21-11 vote. When the committee deems it ready, the bill will enter the House floor, where a majority of the 99 members will need to vote “Yes” to send it to Governor Mike DeWine.

Republicans hold a 65-34 advantage in the House.

Until the House is ready to vote on it, Reuning recommended that everyone voice their support or opposition to S.B. 1 by contacting their representatives in the House as well as DeWine.

@thekethan04

babukc2@miamioh.edu