This Ohio Proposal Has Big Implications for Free Speech on College Campuses
Credit: Aaron M. Sprecher / Getty Images- Ohio lawmakers introduced a sweeping higher education bill in January.
- It would encourage professors to foster “intellectual diversity” across state institutions.
- Free speech advocates worry such a measure would cause self-censorship.
- The bill has already passed the state Senate and is poised to pass the House, too.
Ohio may be poised to pass a sweeping measure that some experts worry would curtail freedom of speech rights across the state’s public colleges and universities.
The proposed Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which passed through the state’s Senate in mid-February, encourages university faculty to promote “intellectual diversity” in classroom discussions.
Jeremy Young, director of state and higher education policy at PEN America, told BestColleges that while this is an admirable goal in principle, its application could “chill” the speech of professors and students.
“It just makes anyone afraid of saying anything or doing anything,” Young said. “There are a lot of things that are good in principle but are a bad idea to write into law.”
The proposal adds that faculty should encourage students to “reach their own conclusions about all controversial beliefs or policies.” The law would define controversial beliefs as anything that is the subject of political controversy, including:
- Climate policies
- Foreign policy
- Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs
- Immigration policy
- Marriage
- Abortion
The bill defines intellectual diversity as “multiple, divergent, and varied perspectives on an extensive range of public policy issues.”
Young worries that without an objective definition of intellectual diversity, faculty may hesitate to broach many controversial topics.
For example, does encouraging intellectual diversity in a course about the Holocaust mean professors should also teach about Holocaust denial? When hosting a panel about racism in the U.S., would that panel break Ohio law if it doesn’t include a discussion of anti-white racism?
“These are really undefinable concepts,” Young said. “You’re afraid to say anything.”
Ohio lawmakers can withhold state funding if they find that a college or university is not complying with this part of the law, according to the bill. Young said this means legislators will have the ultimate say in what constitutes “intellectual diversity.”
Republicans currently control Ohio’s state House of Representatives, Senate, and governorship.
Young said there is a “strong expectation” that the bill will continue through the state Legislature and arrive at Gov. Mike DeWine’s desk to be signed into law.
The former speaker of the House blocked a previous version of the bill from becoming law, but that lawmaker is no longer the speaker. The former Senate leader, who advanced the bill previously, now leads the House.
The bill doesn’t just advocate for intellectual diversity. It also contains provisions to:
- Ban DEI offices and programs across state colleges and universities
- Establish a mandatory, three-credit “American civic literacy” course
- Create a new faculty evaluation system, including student reviews
- Adopt a post-tenure review process for faculty
- Disallow institutions from accepting “gifts, donations, or contributions” from the Chinese government or organizations acting on behalf of China
- Prohibit full-time faculty members at state institutions from striking
Young said Ohio’s proposal is the most sweeping higher education bill he’s seen since PEN America began tracking state bills in 2021.
If it passes, he expects court challenges to this law.
However, courts take varying lengths of time to reach decisions or offer injunctions blocking implementation. For example, a judge blocked portions of the Stop WOKE Act in Florida within 4.5 months, while it took a judge three years to institute a preliminary injunction of a similar bill in Oklahoma, he said.