Mia Lewis, Associate Director at Common Cause Ohio, spoke to the attacks on higher education through Senate Bill 1 in front of a large group at Ohio State University

Our Ohio Senators & Representatives were given an assignment: What is the best way to ensure that Ohio’s public universities continue to excel, to attract talent from far and wide, and to act as economic engines powering our state? 

Their answer? Ban diversity, equity and inclusion and discussion of “controversial” topics. Create a regime of censorship, fear and control. Make public universities in Ohio unappealing to the best students and professors…

Seriously, this is the best they could come up with? What grade do you give them, folks? 

It’s not as if our legislators lacked time or input to complete the assignment. They’ve been at this since last year and have had feedback on their draft paper from so many of you! They’ve heard from professors, students, experts, thought leaders, editorial boards… It was a practical tsunami of opposition. 

Last year, over 600 Ohioans submitted testimony opposing Senate Bill 83, and in person testimony went into the night. That evening, the Ohio Channel was riveting, much-watch TV!

But, apparently Sen. Cirino and Co. didn’t get the “Hell no!” message loud enough, because this year, right off the bat, they decided to go for it again. 

I’m sure many of the professors here would be happy to share this Pro-tip: if you get an F on an assignment, don’t change the font and re-submit!

So now we have SB1. How’s that going? More hours of riveting, must-watch in person testimony, and so far over 1,000 pieces of written opponent testimony submitted. 

Listening to and reading those testimonies, I LEARNED so much from you all. I learned about the power of diversity, equity and inclusion to improve lives for all, about the pride and care professors take in creating an atmosphere of freedom of thought and respect in the classroom, about the importance of our universities as drivers of scientific, technological and economic progress… 

What did our senators learn? Not so much. 

And after those long hours of truly brilliant, inspiring, rousing testimony, how long did it take 5 members to pass the bill out of committee? 5 minutes? 10? 

Allow me to ask a few rhetorical questions: 

• Was there ever ANY serious consideration of the points that the witnesses brought to the committee?
• Did they learn anything?
• Did they listen at all?
• More to the point, do they even care?
• Or was this just another Ohio-Statehouse special: a solution in search of a problem?

Did the 21 members of the senate who voted Yes take a moment to think about the consequences for our state, or is their own world view so desperately insular that the desire to impose that view is paramount, no matter how dire the consequences? 

So, how do we think they did on their assignment? A kind professor would say, please pay attention and try again. But I say, don’t, just don’t. Put this piece of legislation on the scrap heap of terrible ideas. 

Their new assignment? Remedial classes in the protections granted to us in the 1st amendment to the United States Constitution.