Between federal actions and new state laws, diversity, equity and inclusion work at Ohio’s colleges and universities are under heightened scrutiny this year.
Mounting political pressures have put DEI programs, policies and offices under the microscope over the last few years. Those efforts though ramped up in 2025 as the Trump administration has taken aim at DEI efforts in the federal government, private sector and higher education.
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Executive orders targeting DEI staff, funding, programs and resource webpages have attempted to make changes. Some colleges and universities have started rolling back DEI programs out of fear that not doing so will result in losing federal funding. But other schools began chipping away at these initiatives even before Trump took office.
The swift passage of Senate Bill 1 is directly affecting DEI work at Ohio’s public universities.
Ohio’s GOP-controlled Legislature quickly passed SB 1 with Gov. Mike DeWine signing it into law in March, despite protests from students, professors and Democratic lawmakers. Backers of the bill say it’s needed to prevent liberal, “woke” indoctrination on Ohio’s public universities and community colleges. Opponents, however, say the legislation enacts solutions to problems that do not exist on campuses and will cause brain drain in Ohio.
Among the changes required by the new law include eliminating training, offices or scholarships based on diversity, equity and inclusion; allowing students and peers to weigh in on professors’ performance through evaluations that could result in discipline or firing; and a ban on faculty strikes. Most of the changes in Senate Bill 1 take effect 90 days after DeWine’s signature, which falls on June 27.
This tracker intends to document ongoing changes at Ohio colleges and universities related to DEI programs, as well as help readers understand how these changes could reshape their campuses. These changes could include the revision or elimination of campus offices, jobs, training, diversity statements and other DEI-related work, as a result of bills, executive orders, mandates from internal leadership and other state actions.
Ashland University
Baldwin Wallace University
Kent State University
Miami University
Ohio University
Ohio State University
University of Akron
University of Cincinnati
University of Toledo
Xavier University
This article will be updated as Ohio colleges and universities make other changes.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Kent State among Ohio colleges ending its LGBTQ programming as SB 1 compliance nears
Reporting by Sheridan Hendrix, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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