Group aims to stop controversial law banning DEI at Ohio's universities before it takes effect
'Unfortunately, given how bad this bill is for faculty, students, and higher education in general, this was our only option,' Mark Vopat, president of Youngstown State's faculty union, said.
Vopat is one of three professors at Youngstown State University driving a state-wide volunteer effort to pause Senate Bill 1 until voters can decide whether or not to pass it in November. Vopat and his colleagues are racing a June 26 deadline to complete the referendum process, which requires collecting 250,000 signatures and submitting them to the state before S.B. 1 goes into effect on Friday. This past weekend marked the final major push for signatures.
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Senate Bill 1 will ban diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at Ohio's public universities, and limit faculty union powers. Ohio allows laws to be challenged in the 90 days before they take effect, and Vopat said it seemed that was the only option. See previous coverage in the video player above.
'It was clear that the 1,500 instances of opposition testimony, hundreds of in-person testimony, and thousands of people protesting resulted in no changes to the bill,' he said.
To get on the ballot, they must collect 248,092 valid signatures from Ohio voters — equal to 6% of participants in the last gubernatorial election. They must also collect as many signatures as equal to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in 44 of 88 counties. However, training materials for the effort's petition circulators said the group is hoping for at least 425,000 signatures, as they expect not all signatures will be considered valid.
Vopat said this last weekend marked the final push for petition drives, adding the 'No Kings' protests, Pride events and Juneteenth events were especially productive for getting signatures. He said although there may be some targeted breakout petition events this week, widespread collection will end by Monday to have time to prepare the submission to the state.
The group is entirely made up of volunteers. In early May, Vopat and his colleagues created the Labor Education And Diversity Ohio PAC to fund the printing of petitions, but said they initially paid out of pocket for materials and a website.
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Vopat said the hard work is important to stop the bill from going into effect, and to prevent similar bills in the future.
'We want to stop the government in its steps before its attacks reach K-12 and other unions,' the effort's website said. 'What happens to higher education is going to roll down to K-12 and outward to other labor unions.'
Vopat said the anti-DEI provisions in S.B. 1 harm everyone, from eliminating sensitivity training to support veterans to creating a 'chilling effect' toward what can be taught in the classroom. He also said the law's mandatory civic education course is an overstep and a dangerous precedent, saying it was the first time he can recall the state mandating both a course and the content taught in it. Provisions like these make the group think the measure could reasonably fail at the ballot.
This week, the group will gather its signatures so they can be submitted to the state for review. Vopat said Attorney General Dave Yost gave them until June 26 to submit the petition, one day later than they had originally thought. If the signatures are verified by the Secretary of State, it will go to the Ohio Ballot Board to place on the Nov. 4 ballot.
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State treasurers may object to ESG investment criteria, but find that national rankings and training frameworks still push those standards. A superintendent may oppose gender-affirming school policies, but still face accreditation pressure from a national group that insists on "inclusive pedagogy." In short, the report argues that these associations have created a parallel system of governance — one that functions independently of voter oversight and continues to advance a progressive agenda even under conservative administrations. In one example, the report alleges that the NAMD pushed equity — not outcomes — as a top priority of Medicaid reform. In the NAMD 2021 Regulatory Priorities document, the group lists 11 "broad issues" that Medicaid directors could focus on to improve state Medicaid programs. 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In 2022, the chair of the DEI committee shared a message with other members of NAST highlighting the DEI work in her state and how she and others on the committee were working to share best practices on how to incorporate DEI policies in their state. "Our goal is to gather resources to support our fellow treasurers. We plan to send out a survey to gather information on DE&I initiatives in the different states, similar to the successful approach we used with Financial Education several years ago. The results from this survey will be shared with everyone and could provide a basis for us to host future panels and webinars to support each other's strategies," Deborah B. Goldberg, who was the Massachusetts State Treasurer, wrote. She also shared how her state prioritized hiring a diverse workforce and how it benefited the treasury workforce. 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The National Association of State Boards of Education declined to comment. Wall argued that Republican governors and lawmakers have underestimated the scale of the problem. "They're not just sharing best practices," Wall said. "They're setting the internal culture of state agencies and implementing federal priorities under the radar. Even conservative states are running progressive policies out of habit." To address what it calls "shadow governance," the State Leadership Initiative outlines a series of recommendations aimed at helping conservative governors and lawmakers reclaim authority over state agencies. First, the report urges a full audit of every national association to which state agencies belong. This includes reviewing how much taxpayer money is spent on dues, how much influence these groups have over policy, and whether their agendas align with state law. It encourages states to withdraw from associations that are in direct conflict with their legislative priorities and to require legislative approval before renewing any membership. The report also calls for an end to the automatic adoption of "model policies" and "best practices" by national associations. Instead, SLI recommends executive orders that prevent agencies from implementing these guidelines without in-state review and oversight from elected officials. It also calls on states to prohibit public funds from being used to support DEI training or performance metrics, which the group describes as ideological Trojan horses. "We think that Republican governors in particular need to make sure that they're sending people to these associations, knowing the problems that these associations have had in the past," Wall said. "And I don't think they have. So our goal is to educate Republican governors about the scale of the problem and make sure that they condition future membership on reforms."
