New Ohio law bans DEI, outlaws faculty strikes, requires U.S. civic literacy course.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Friday signed a sweeping higher education bill that forbids diversity, equity and inclusion programs and trainings, bans faculty strikes, and requires students pass a course on American civic literacy to earn a degree.

The new law also requires public institutions maintain institutional neutrality, and not weigh in on controversial political or social issues not relevant to their primary mission. It also enacts tenure review, which will allow administrators to fire poor-performing professors. And it bans DEI statements for admissions, hiring and promotion decisions.

What’s more, it requires classes to “demonstrate intellectual diversity” for approval, as well as to be included in universities’ general education requirements.

“One of the goals of this bill is to make sure that we do everything that we can so that a student feels free to express their point of view, whether that be in a classroom or whether that be someplace else on campus,” DeWine said Wednesday, prior to signing the law Friday, the Columbus Dispatch reported. “That should be part of what we’re doing in higher education.”

The ban on faculty strikes had been one of the bill’s most controversial aspects, but it just adds professors to the list of state employees who cannot strike, along with prison guards and police officers, the Dispatch reported.

The “intellectual diversity” requirement had also prompted outrage and protests among faculty, with many arguing the state legislature is controlling the classroom, but the bill states universities have discretion and leeway on how to ensure that provision is met.

Under the law, the new American civic literacy requirement must be implemented before the 2029-30 academic year. The course’s required reading list will include:

(1) The entire Constitution of the United States;
(2) The entire Declaration of Independence;
(3) A minimum of five essays in their entirety from the Federalist Papers;
(4) The entire Emancipation Proclamation;
(5) The entire Gettysburg Address;
(6) The entire Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr;
(7) The writings of Adam Smith, including a study of the principles written in The Wealth of Nations.

Three additional aspects of the bill include, the Dispatch reported, are the elimination of undergraduate degrees if fewer than five students obtain degrees over three years, a ban on donations from and partnerships with the Chinese government, and a requirement that faculty post syllabi online starting with the 2026-27 school year.

As the bill wound its way through the statehouse, it faced heavy opposition.

“The bill received overwhelming opposition from college students and professors. More than 1,500 people have submitted opponent testimony against the bill. Hundreds of students around the state have protested against the bill. Students and faculty have said they would leave Ohio if the bill becomes law,” the Ohio Capital Journal reported.

S.B. 1 is now expected to quickly face legal challenges.