Over the last three years, the American Historical Association and many state-level partners have opposed Ohio SB 1 and its predecessor SB 83, both of which proposed aggressive new mechanisms to overrule the professional judgement and academic expertise of faculty and departments in Ohio’s public university system.
On March 26, the Ohio Senate voted to approve the slightly revised version of SB 1 that passed out of the House, sending the bill to Governor DeWine’s desk.
We have to be realistic. The bill’s sponsor also chairs the Senate Finance Committee, holding considerable power over budget appropriations. But there is still a chance to stop this bill from becoming law: Governor Mike DeWine can veto it.
The AHA submitted testimony to the House Workforce and Higher Education Committee outlining our concerns about the bill, and its implications for students and faculty. While we continue to oppose SB 1’s vaguely worded restrictions on academic freedom and classroom discussion, our sense is that the Governor and his advisors might be more likely to respond to concerns about the implications of the bill’s extraordinarily broad retrenchment provision.
“Instituting a vaguely defined and seemingly limitless process for ‘retrenchment,’” the AHA warned in its testimony, provides “a rationale for firing faculty regardless of tenure or merit. The breadth of the provision in this bill has the potential to fundamentally undermine protections for intellectual freedom necessary to assure integrity and innovation in both teaching and research.”
Act now: write to the Governor and ask him to veto this dangerous bill. You might wish to contact any or all of the key staff in Governor DeWine’s administration:
- Christine Morrison, Chief of Staff (christine.morrison@governor.ohio.gov)
- Giles Allen, Director of Legislative Affairs (giles.allen@governor.ohio.gov)
- Marjorie Yano, Deputy Policy Director—Education (marjorie.yano@governor.ohio.gov)
- Lisa A. Peterson, Communications Director (lisa.peterson@governor.ohio.gov)
- Ann O’Donnell, Chief Advisor to the Governor (ann.odonnell@governor.ohio.gov)
Tell the governor that this bill would undermine the integrity, quality, and reputation of public higher education in Ohio. Email messages are likeliest to be effective if they provide specific stories about how it will affect students, faculty, and families across the state. What will the retrenchment provision mean for history research and teaching? Will students really feel safer voicing opinions if they can be reported and potentially punished for what they say and do in the classroom?
Please consider sharing your concerns about this bill with others in your community and across the state.