Hicks-Hudson Condemns Passage of Senate Bill 117

Today, state Senator Paula Hicks-Hudson (D-Toledo) issued a statement after the Ohio Senate voted along party lines to pass Senate Bill 117, Republican legislation to create new centers for “intellectual diversity” at five state universities.

“Once again, the Senate majority has ignored the voices of the people, this time our students, who spoke out against this bill,” said Hicks-Hudson. "They were ignored when they stated that what they really need are resources and a curriculum to prepare them for graduation and their careers. By forcibly creating these unnecessary and unwanted centers for so-called ‘freedom of thought,’ the passage of this bill is in complete disregard to the pleas of students who are unwilling victims of this legislation."

As introduced, Senate Bill 117 would establish the Salmon P. Chase Center at the Ohio State University and the Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership at the University of Toledo. The majority offered a last-minute floor amendment to add requirements for similar centers at Miami University, the University of Cincinnati, and Cleveland State University. 

S.B. 117 would mean the universities will be forced to host independent, academic centers without the ability to exercise oversight over the hiring of tenure-track faculty or establishing curriculum. Universities will also have to allocate prescribed numbers of tenure-track faculty positions for these centers, even though they are headed by directors with unilateral control over hiring and administration.

Senate Bill 117 now heads to the Ohio House for consideration, and certain provisions were added to the Senate’s version of the state operating budget, House Bill 33.