In 2023, we saw an increase of gag-order type legislation, notably including SB 83—the so-called “Higher Education Enhancement Act,” or as we call it, the “Higher Education Destruction Act.” Early drafts of the bill introduced in March explicitly denounced taking any stance on broad concepts such as “sustainability,” “inclusion,” and “allyship” and sought to restrict speech on identity. It also labeled  “climate change,” “electoral politics,” and “marriage” as so-called “controversial belief[s] or polic[ies],” similarly restricting their inclusion and discussion in universities. 

The most recent versions of this bill continue to take a dangerous and even Orwellian approach to stifling Ohio higher education as we know it. The ramifications of this kind of legislation would mean a system of higher education where classes must teach ‘both sides’ of slavery, and Holocaust deniers and pseudoscientific conspiracists are empowered to believe and maintain any idea in the classroom, regardless of evidence and ethics.

From every stage of this malicious bill, students have shown up, organized, and built power to protect our universities. We held testimony workshops and showed up in unprecedented numbers to present opposition testimony to SB83, filling up the Statehouse and submitting hundreds of testimonies. Student leaders also organized phone banking and letter campaigns, contacting their local representatives to ensure student voices were heard clearly, hammering in the message that we unequivocally oppose attempts to whitewash history and censor critical conversations.