By Megan Henry
Professors at Ohio’s only public historically Black university are worried a new controversial higher education law will have a chilling effect on their campus.
Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio was originally the Normal and Industrial Department within Wilberforce University, the nation’s oldest private Historically Black College or University (HBCU) and a prominent stop on the Underground Railroad. In 1941, the department began to offer four-year degrees, and in 1951 it became independent from Wilberforce as Central State College. In 1965, Central State achieved university status.
Members of Central State University American Association of University Professors chapter recently talked to the Ohio Capital Journal about their concerns with Senate Bill 1, which is set to take effect at the end of June. Lawmakers quickly passed the bill and Gov. Mike DeWine signed it into law on March 28.
The new law will ban diversity efforts, prohibit faculty strikes, regulate classroom discussion of “controversial” topics, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that block unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things.
“Even if it’s not stopping me from teaching something on a practical level, it could make me think twice about something,” said J. Brendan Shaw, president of the Central State’s AAUP chapter.
He said he has been in meetings before the bill passed where English faculty have proposed classes about specific ethnic groups, but “other faculty have said, ‘Are you sure you want to do that?”
“Even if the letter of the bill does not say that, it still creates that chilling effect of making people think twice about something that our students might benefit from,” Shaw said.
Wilberforce University is Ohio’s other HBCU, but it is a private university. S.B. 1 only applies to Ohio’s public universities and community colleges.
Sarah Siff, an assistant professor of history, is concerned about the chilling effect on people’s speech and the potential damage to academic freedom.
“It’s quite stark to think that someone’s response to that might just be, well, then I won’t teach that part, or I’ll toss that out and keep myself safe,” she said. “As a person who does not have tenure, I really have to think about that.”
Central State students are reportedly worried about being able to access scholarships and grants that are specific to Black students.
“Those are just lost opportunities for our students to have the same opportunity that their peers would at a different institution, especially their white peers,” Shaw said.
A little more than 5,400 students attended Central State in Fall 2022 — 33% were Black, 26% were white and 12% were Hispanic, according to the university’s Fact Book.
Central State faculty said they have heard Black students say the bill is not for them.
“This bill is enlisting white students to let the authorities know when they become uncomfortable in class talking about racial history, talking about racial equity and justice,” Siff said.
Anthony Arment, a biology professor, said the law will impact the humanities the hardest.
“It’s basically putting faculty in the position where they’re being bullied into self-censoring,” he said.
He is also worried the law is taking effect over the summer when faculty are supposed to be off.
“All of these changes and policy changes are going to be done largely without faculty representation,” Arment said.
Jeremy Holtgrave, an associate professor of physics, said the principle of academic freedom seems to be under assault.
“I think that’s foundational to our university system or at least I believe it should be,” he said.
Siff said the soon-to-be law does affect how she thinks about teaching her history classes.
“It does change the way that I, at least, think about events of the civil rights movement, and I no longer assume that it’s self-evident why activists would make sure that the schools got integrated,” she said.