OHIO — There’s a new legislative session underway and with, it new life to a controversial bill that was stuck in neutral for more than a year and a half.
Republican State Senator Jerry Cirino has re-introduced a bill that would make significant changes to colleges and universities across the state.
Just steps away from where students protested, Cirino put his higher education bill back on the table.
“We are promoting more speech, not less speech, as some of our opponents have said,” Cirino said. “More discussion and debate on all topics, less indoctrination, institutional support by trustee actions and policy moves that we’re requiring the trustees to make to support an environment of diversity of thought.”
Among its many provisions, the bill would ban schools from implementing diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
It would also take away the right for faculty to strike, and force professors to be transparent about the material they plan to teach.
“What we said was that we need to have institutional neutrality,” Cirino said. “That is the gold standard for higher education in this country. University should not take positions on these controversial subjects.”
Protesters outside the room where Cirino announced the bill were chanting: “For our people, censorship should be illegal”
As was the case during last session, the bill has many opponents, including members of the Ohio Student Association, who say it goes too far.
Clara Conover, lead organizer of Ohio Student Association, led the charge on Wednesday.
“I think it would be the death of Ohio campuses,” Conover said. “The faculty strike provision are unacceptable, because faculty’s working conditions are students’ learning conditions.”
If it’s enacted, faculty would join the likes of police officers and paramedics in not being allowed to strike.
Cirino hopes it will push administrations and faculties to find other ways to resolve their differences.
“There’s arbitration, there’s mediation, there’s lots of other methods that are available here,” Cirino said. “Why potentially the disadvantage to students?”
Cirino also said it’s those students who are his first priority.
Senator Kristina Roegner and Rep. Tom Young were there for support.
Roegner, the chair of the higher education committee, said she would hold hearings that could start as soon as next week for people who want to be heard.
“What we want to do is we’re looking at it again from the student’s perspective,” Cirino said. “We want students to be exposed to different kinds of opinions about things, not just one opinion.”
Cirino hopes to see the bill get fast-tracked during this legislative session.
As for Conover, she said she won’t give up the fight to stop the bill from becoming law.
“He has heard from over 500 opponents of the spell in different forms,” Conover said. “And he is still choosing today to spread the lie that students are well receiving.”