The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
A new Ohio higher education bill being signed into law has led one Cleveland State University student to decide to transfer to a New York university next semester. College students and professors alike say Ohio will lose talent because of the new law.
Dylan Repertorio, 19, started applying to universities outside of Ohio as Senate Bill 1 moved through the legislature. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed S.B. 1 into law on March 28.
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The new law will ban diversity efforts, regulate classroom discussion, prohibit faculty strikes, and regulate classroom discussion of “controversial” topics, among other things. The law is set to take effect in June and Ohio students, faculty, and staff are bracing for the impact.
“Why should I contribute to a school in Ohio that isn’t going to let me learn about the things I want to learn?” Repertorio said. “… I want the freedom to explore topics like foreign policy. I want to be able to talk about things that are political. This bill is an attack on everything that is within social sciences.”
Repertorio, a sophomore studying organizational leadership, is originally from New York so he will be returning to his home state to continue his higher education in Albany, New York.
“I can’t rationalize spending all this money on education that is so limited,” he said. “It’s a really sick and evil game of chess and higher education, and I don’t want to play that game with mine.”
Repertorio was originally drawn to Cleveland when it came time for him to pick a college back when he was in high school.
“I love Cleveland,” he said. “I wanted to experience something different. I wanted new opportunities. I wanted some different people.”
He wishes he didn’t have to leave Ohio, but is worried S.B. 1 is the first of more changes to come to Ohio higher education.
“It’s only going to get worse,” Repertorio said. “There’s going to be more limitations. Professors are going to leave.”
John O’Keefe, president of Ohio University’s American Association of University Professors chapter, said this new law will make it harder for professors to teach and for universities to recruit top faculty.
“It’s going to hurt Ohio down the road,” he said.
Faculty, staff, and students at Ohio’s public universities are waiting to see how their university implements the new law.
“We’re waiting anxiously to see what steps the university leadership takes,” O’Keefe said. “I think people are still very concerned and they’re not sure what the future holds.”
Ohio University President Lori Gonzalez said she does not anticipate that the new law will impact course offerings.
“The Provost and I remain committed to academic freedom and will support your faculty as they provide instruction on a wide variety of topics, including topics that may be controversial in nature as defined by this law,” she said in a letter this week to the university.
O’Keefe said he has heard some faculty talking about starting to look for jobs outside of Ohio.
“People here are so passionate about their mission,” he said. “It’s not an easy decision to make to look for a job elsewhere, but … they have to think about ensuring that they know that they have the freedom to engage, the freedom to research.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill into law banning diversity and inclusion at Texas public universities in 2023 and Texas Faculty Association President Pat Heintzelman said that has caused faculty to not want to work in Texas.
“We’re losing so much talent,” Heintzelman said.
She said the law has created a chilling effect for faculty.
“I’m scared to teach anything that might be offensive to somebody,” Heintzelman said.
Audrey Ansel is preparing for Ohio University’s Pride Center to likely close as a result of the law. Ohio University has not explicitly said the Pride Center will close.
“There’s just been a lot of frustration and sadness, but also a very strong commitment to preserving the resources in the center and moving them out into the community so that we’re not starting from zero,” she said.
For now, though, the Pride Center remains open.
“University leadership is working to fully understand both the letter and intent of the law as it relates to the section on diversity, equity and inclusion offices and staff,” Gonzalez said in her letter. “We are also communicating with other universities across the state to ensure our understanding aligns with that of other institutions. We know changes will likely need to be made, and we want to ensure those changes reflect an accurate interpretation of the law.”
The Pride Center was a big reason Ansel came to OU. She works at the Pride Center and is worried about finding a new job for her senior year.
“I just loved working at the Pride Center and getting to just be in that space with other people,” she said. “I think I’m going to feel a little bit lost without that structure and without that community that I’m so used to having.”
On top of that, she is also nervous about what else will be different come fall semester.
“I wonder what conversation is going to look like in the classroom,” she said. “I am worried it’s going to be very different from the last three years.”
