Dive Brief:
- Five civic centers at Ohio universities established by Republican lawmakers to promote “intellectual diversity” would gain increased power and autonomy under a new budget proposal from the state’s Senate.
- The fiscal 2026 budget proposal would eliminate a rule mandating that the center directors consult with their respective university’s dean.
- The budget would also create the Ohio Civics Board, to be staffed by the five directors. The board would help select future center directors and advise state policymakers on civic education and “curriculum development and standards” at the state’s public colleges.
Dive Insight:
Reducing university officials’ influence over academic affairs — in this case, through the creation and bolstering of the civics centers — is in keeping with Ohio lawmakers’ goal of giving the Legislature more control over public colleges.
In 2023, Ohio Republicans passed a state budget requiring the creation of “intellectual diversity” centers at five public colleges — Ohio State University, Cleveland State University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Toledo and Miami University.
Republican state Sen. Jerry Cirino, co-author of the provision, said at the time that the centers were needed because “ideology is replacing the lessons of history on campus.”
“The less students learn about and embrace America’s founding principles and ideals, the more free speech is disappearing from our citadels of higher education and, subsequently, our entire nation,” Cirino said in a July 2023 statement.
The University of Cincinnati was ultimately replaced by Wright State University prior to funds being distributed.
In the years since, the centers have reached varying stages of operation. The center at the University of Toledo began offering classes last year. Ohio State’s center, which has the most state funding, is expected to open this fall.
But some faculty have argued that they’ve been left out of the centers’ academic governance process. At Wright State, the president of the faculty union said administrators haven’t informed them about what the centers will offer, WVXU reported earlier this year.
And at Ohio State University, the faculty senate in January voted against approving the forthcoming center. The chair of the body told WOSU that Cirino’s argument for creating the centers — “that teaching and research at Ohio State is ideologically biased rather than evidence-based,” as she put it — was built on “fundamentally false premises.”
But the centers do not need faculty approval, as they are codified in law. The heads of the centers are in charge of overseeing, developing and approving their coursework, as well as hiring their faculty and staff.
Under the newly proposed budget, they would no longer be required to consult with their university’s leadership in the process. The civic center at Wright State is the only one that doesn’t have this requirement, according to a legislative summary.
The proposed budget would annually allocate:
- $8.5 million to the Ohio State University’s center.
- $3 million to the University of Toledo’s center.
- $2 million to Miami University’s center.
- $2 million to Cleveland State University’s center.
- $2 million to Wright State University’s center.
Republicans control both chambers of the Ohio Legislature, as well as the governorship. If lawmakers vote down party lines, the budget proposal would pass and be signed by Gov. Mike DeWine by June 30.
