Bill is 'a dumpster fire' that threatens to incinerate free speech' at Ohio's colleges| Opinion
John Plecnik is an associate professor of Law at Cleveland State Universityand a Lake County commissioner.
The only Republican to vote against the Second Amendment and “Constitutional Carry” in the Ohio General Assembly has yet another unsolicited “gift” for conservatives — a speech code fit for a dictator.
Senate Bill 83 is a dumpster fire that threatens to incinerate free speech in higher education.
Speaking as a conservative Republican who just so happens to be a law professor at Cleveland State University and Sen. Jerry Cirino’s constituent in Lake County, his proposed legislation is a poorly disguised big government takeover of Ohio’s colleges and universities.
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If I were a state senator rather than a faculty senator, I would vote "no" on Senate Bill 83 and introduce something positive, like a 100% property tax exemption for seniors.
Senate Bill 83 would put target on backs of conservatives.
The bill endangers conservative professors and students, threatens the accreditation of our colleges and universities, and attacks free speech as well as academic freedom on campus.
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First, the institution of tenure and fair evaluations protect minority viewpoints, and we all know conservatives are in the tiny minority on campus.
Senate Bill 83 would allow a liberal dean or administrator to use two years of below average reviews in any category as a pretext to discipline or fire a conservative professor.
This will immediately silence our few remaining conservative faculty. Senate Bill 83 also requires student evaluations to make up no less than half of a professor’s teaching evaluation. This will immediately result in grade inflation as fearful professors seek to cater to their students rather than educate them.
State would control learning.
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Second, Senate Bill 83 attempts to micromanage our universities, right down to dictating how syllabi will be posted on their websites. This micromanagement, along with voluminous requirements on diversity issues, clearly conflict with the requirements of many regional and national accreditation agencies.
The fact that a sitting chairman in the Ohio Senate formally introduced a bill to his committee without vetting it for accreditation is powerful evidence that no elected official actually read it first.
'Barbarians knocking at the gate'
Finally, Cirino and I do agree on one thing: “Our First Amendment is under assault in academia.”
However, Senate Bill 83 and speech codes like it are the barbarians knocking at the gate. Like most acts of Congress, the so-called Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act is named the exact opposite of what it actually requires.
In its 39 propaganda-ridden pages, Senate Bill 83 does nothing to promote intellectual diversity.
It does nothing to reduce discrimination against conservative students and professors. Contrary to Cirino’s more specific claims, it does not even address “woke fiefdoms” or critical race theory.
In fact, the entire text of Senate Bill 83 does not mention the terms “liberal bias,” “woke,” or “CRT” even once.
Free speech will go out the window.
Instead, Senate Bill 83 creates a list of banned topics, each of which are dubbed a “controversial belief or policy."
Like a Soviet gulag or the Communist Party of China, this legislation provides that Ohio’s colleges and universities may not “endorse, oppose, comment, or take action” on any banned topic, which include “climate change, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.”
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Last year, I publicly joined with Cleveland State University as a whole in condemning the unprovoked and unjustified war by Russian President Vladimir Putin against the people of Ukraine.
As Senate Bill 83 is currently written, this statement would violate the law.
In fact, Christian colleges and universities that accept state funding would be prohibited from trying to hire faculty or staff of the same faith or who oppose partial birth abortion.
This is a free country, or at least it used to be one.
With respect, one man from Kirtland should not have the power to impose his own personal speech code on the rest of Ohio. One man should not have the power to define what is or is not “controversial” for the rest of us. Make no mistake, Senate Bill 83 is a trial balloon by the politicians in Columbus to see how much they can get away with on campus, before they come for you at home or in your place of work. To save free speech, we need to shoot it down now.
John Plecnik is an associate professor of Law at Cleveland State Universityand a Lake County commissioner.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Senate Bill 83 is a dumpster fire that threatens to incinerate free speech
