Jerry Cirino
Ohio higher education overhaul would chill speech and academic freedom with threats of discipline
Using remarkably clueless wording as our nation reels from rampant wildfires, including the deadliest one in over a century, state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, recently crowed about how he started a “firestorm” with his proposed SB 83, the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act. As NOAA elevates its prediction for the number and strength of Atlantic […]
More Ohio universities added to Senate bill that would create ‘intellectual diversity’ centers
The Ohio Senate passed a bill Wednesday that would create “intellectual diversity” centers at Ohio State University, the University of Toledo, Miami University, Cleveland State University, and the University of Cincinnati. The party line vote came after an amendment was added during the Senate session that tacks on Miami, Cleveland State, and Cincinnati to Senate […]
Higher education bills added to Ohio Senate’s version of the state’s operating budget
A massive higher education overhaul is one step closer to happening as the Ohio Senate voted to pass their budget Thursday. Numerous bills, including Senate Bill 83, were added to the Senate’s version of the budget during Wednesday’s Senate Finance Committee meeting and the budget passed during Thursday’s Senate Session by a 24-7 party line […]
Committee passes bill to create centers ‘intellectual diversity’ at Ohio State, University of Toledo
A bill that would establish “intellectual diversity” centers at Ohio State University and the University of Toledo passed by a 4-1 party line vote in the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee Wednesday. Senate Bill 117 would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at Ohio State University and the Institute […]
Students, professors speak against Ohio bill that would create ‘intellectual diversity’ centers
University of Toledo law students and Ohio State University professors spoke out in opposition against a bill that would create new centers at both universities that would expand and affirm what sponsors deem “intellectual diversity.” Senate Bill 117 would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society at Ohio State University and […]
Ohio labor unions fight back against higher education bill banning strikes
Labor unions are fighting back against a controversial higher education bill in the Ohio Senate that would ban public university employees from striking. This isn’t the first fight, either. Nearly 700,000 people in Ohio are part of unions or related associations, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor. With that, Ohioans are continuing to unionize […]
When asked about Holocaust deniers, Sen. Cirino said colleges “should be about accepting even views that are uncomfortable”
Ohio state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, danced around a question about college professors interacting with a student with “a dissenting view” of the Holocaust Wednesday morning during the House Higher Education Committee Meeting. State Rep. Casey Weinstein, D-Hudson, asked Cirino, “If a student had a dissenting view about the Holocaust, which there is a very active […]
Ohio Republican education assaults are a travesty, wrapped in unthinking, immature, petty grievance
Ohio boasts cherished, prestigious academic institutions that we rightly take enormous pride in, but now Ohio Republican lawmakers have their culture war sights set on destroying all of it, out of unthinking, immature, petty personal grievance and power politics. For many years, right-wingers have seethed resentfully at the whole bulk of American academia — many […]
Ohio GOP supports college overhaul bills to create ‘safe space’ for conservatives
Ohio conservatives want “safe spaces” on college campuses, demonstrated by the passing and introduction of controversial legislation meant to overhaul the state’s higher education system. After hours of hearings and hundreds of people giving testimony, Ohio Republican senators passed Senate Bill 83. The bill focuses on what GOP calls “free speech,” banning public universities in Ohio from having […]
Making ethnic studies illegal in Ohio: Even watered down, SB 83 requires teaching racism
In 2006, I was hired by the state of Ohio to teach ethnic studies. Among the core concepts of this field that I was expected to impart to my students were the ideas that apparent human differences are more historical and cultural than natural, that what we call “race” is our own invention, and a […]
Ohio Senate passes massive higher education overhaul bill, House version hears opponent testimony
The Ohio Senate passed a massive higher education bill that would significantly alter college campuses. Wednesday’s 21-10 vote comes a week after changes and clarification were made to Senate Bill 83, which was introduced by state Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland in March. SB 83 now moves to the House for committee consideration. Republican state Sen. […]
Senate bill would create ‘intellectual diversity’ centers at Ohio State and the University of Toledo
A Senate bill is trying to create new centers at Ohio State University and the University of Toledo that expand and affirm “intellectual diversity.” Senate Bill 117 — introduced earlier this month by Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, and Sen. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon — would create the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society […]