Ohio House Republicans passed Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) on March 19, 2025, by a majority vote of 58 to 34. Now, the bill will be sent back to the Senate for review of revisions made by the House. If the Senate agrees with the changes, it will be sent to Gov. Mike DeWine for approval.
The bill is expected to pass by the end of this week and take effect 90 days after it is signed into law.
Senate Bill 1 seeks to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in higher education. This means that Sinclair’s current DEI office would have to be dissolved. The bill would also prohibit DEI from being used in job descriptions, admissions, or scholarships.
The bill also changes the way Ohio colleges can teach certain topics the state sees as controversial. Faculty will no longer be able to strike, nor can tenure, or performance reviews be negotiated in collective bargaining agreements. This has been stated to make the process of firing an underperforming teacher easier.
Along with this comes other overhauls in the current education system. For example, a mandatory American civics course would be added to students’ curriculum.
Despite hundreds of opponents and only 25 proponents, Republicans toed the party line and used their majority power to pass the vote. Now protests demanding DeWine veto the bill have sprouted in Columbus as students staged walkouts and opponents marched to the Ohio Statehouse to denounce the bill.
Sinclair has released an official statement on concerns over the bill:
“Pending the Governor’s signature, SB1 would significantly impact Sinclair and other public colleges and universities in Ohio, through compliance costs. Of the roughly seventeen (17) major provisions in SB1, approximately nine (9) would likely apply to Sinclair in some fashion and would cause the college to incur, based on preliminary estimates, $2.2 million in compliance costs in the first year and $1.2 million thereafter.”
Students are also concerned about President Trump’s plan to shut down the Department of Education. Trump is set to sign an executive order later today. However, this is ambiguous, as a complete shutdown would require action from Congress.
If Trump signs this executive order, it will significantly reduce the power and reach of the Education Department. Still this latest act of Trump to push his presidential authority has created more controversy and division among the caucuses of government.
Both state and federal levels now threaten the status quo for Ohio universities and schools. The coming weeks will determine the security of DEI programs, student funding, and faculty positions.
Noah Schlarman, Executive Editor