Ohio State College of Medicine sunsets DEI division and staff
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio State's College of Medicine will sunset its diversity, equity and inclusion division and staff in the next month, a spokesperson confirmed.
OSU's College of Medicine is closing its Office of Diversity and Inclusion, effective Saturday, and removing its vice chairs for diversity, equity and inclusion by June 27. College of Medicine spokesperson Serena Smith confirmed the closures, citing state and federal crackdowns on DEI programs.
'Over the past several months, those of us in higher education have found ourselves at the center of several vigorous debates at both the state and national levels,' Smith said. 'The current state and federal landscape made it a near certainty that we would need to make changes to the ways we have historically gone about our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.'
Bill would ban certain people from buying land in Ohio
Smith said the college is shuttering its offices and staff to be compliant with state law. Senate Bill 1, or the Advance Higher Education Act, goes into effect on June 26 and bars public Ohio universities from having DEI programming on campus.
Smith said the university is working with affected staff to find other jobs at Ohio State where they can. The university is also providing support services to help those affected by the decision, and Smith said she knows the transition will be 'disappointing' for many.
'Our priority is to provide the resources our faculty, staff and learners need to be successful. How we go about that will need to change, but our commitment will not,' Smith said. 'We will continue to celebrate diverse backgrounds and ideas, and uphold academic freedom, which defines the excellence of American universities.'
Ohio State also recently launched a webpage dedicated to the university's compliance with Senate Bill 1. OSU said it is engaging groups of students, staff and faculty across all campuses to best decide how to implement the law's requirements.
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