Breaking down Ohio State’s newly launched website on its responses to federal and state policy changes

Brie Blevins
Thu, 20 Feb 2025 06:11:37 +0000
Campus, AAUP, academic freedom, board of trustees, campus desk, DEI, diversity, diversity equity and inclusion, email, executive order, federal, HIPAA, immigration, Office of Government Affairs, Office of Legal Affairs, ohio senate, ohio state, ohio state university, Pranav Jani, President Ted Carter Jr., Salmon P. Chase center, SB1, SB117, SB83, state, the ohio state university, U.S. Department of Education, university senate, website

Due to changes in federal and state law, Ohio State has launched a new website to share information and updates about the impacts of the evolving legal landscape on the university. Credit: Daniel Bush | Lantern Photographer

In light of multiple policy changes coming from federal and state governments, Ohio State has launched a new website to share information about how changes in the country’s legal landscape may impact the university.?

In a statement released via email Feb. 12, university President Ted Carter Jr. shared updates about the university’s response to ongoing legislative and executive decisions, also announcing a website that will act as the “central resource for all information on legislative and executive actions and their potential impact on Ohio State.”

Titled “Information on Legislative and Executive Actions,” the webpage offers information about federal and statewide policy decisions. In the Feb. 12 email, Carter said the resource was created as an effort for the university to be “proactive” ahead of possible legislative changes.?

“As a public institution, we will always follow the laws and regulations that govern us,” Carter said in the email. “The proactive steps we are taking now will best position us to continue our work uninterrupted in ensuring that students, faculty and staff of all backgrounds can be successful at Ohio State.”

The page took approximately a week to create and publish and is not the first of its kind, university spokesperson Chris Booker said in an email.

“It was developed in collaboration with departments across the university providing information and expertise,” Booker said. “Informational websites like this are an effective way to update and share information with students, faculty and staff. The university has created similar websites in the past to share information about freedom of expression, affordability and COVID-19.”

The website states Ohio State’s status as a public institution means the university’s Office of Government Affairs will cooperate with the Office of Legal Affairs to work through the implementation of all local, state and federal laws, if applicable.?

However, because carrying out such legislation is dependent on federal agencies and courts, “the university will rarely have clear answers right away on how a specific government action or policy will affect Ohio State,” the website states.?

Under the tab for federal guidance, the university has posted details regarding research and immigration, the latter of which contains phrasing identical to the Jan. 31 email sent to faculty and staff, per prior Lantern reporting. These immigration guidelines include the lasting protection of students’ education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

New details were added about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which prohibits care providers from disclosing any information about a patient’s immigration status to law enforcement. HIPAA applies to all patients, though they are not required to disclose such information unless it is relevant to their healthcare, according to the website.?

The website also shares the university’s policy regarding Ohio Senate Bill 104, which forbids the university from knowingly allowing students to use multi-use student restrooms, locker, shower and changing rooms meant for the opposite biological sex, and requires such rooms to be labeled for either the male or female biological sex, per prior Lantern reporting. The bill is set to go into effect Feb. 25, 2025.

The website states the university’s facilities are in compliance with the law, as all such facilities are designated for either the female or male biological sex. There are also more than 450 single-occupancy restrooms across all campuses.

As of Tuesday, the website features new sections on the U.S. Department of Education’s Friday letter — which threatened to remove federal funding from public education institutions if the elimination of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives isn’t achieved by the end of the month — and Ohio Senate Bill 1 — which passed through the Ohio Senate Feb. 12 and would ban diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all public Ohio higher education institutions — which appear under the federal and state of Ohio sections, respectively.?

Pranav Jani, an Ohio State English professor and president of the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, is one of many faculty members who have openly opposed SB 1, echoing AAUP’s formal position on the legislation, according to prior Lantern reporting and AAUP’s website.?

Jani said in an email the university’s response to Senate Bill 83, which is also known as the “Enact Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act” and failed to pass in 2023, may indicate a similar response to the new bill.?

“The Board of Trustees came out publicly against SB 83 — the predecessor of SB 1 — and a similar stance today could help prevent passage of this destructive bill in the House. But the cutting of DEI leadership positions and the end of the Multicultural Center does not bode well,” Jani said.?

Richard Finlay Fletcher — an AAUP executive board member and Ohio State professor in arts administration, education and policy — said in an email though clear communication in a shifting legislative environment is appreciated, Carter’s message “dilutes the pivotal and active role of shared governance at the university at this crucial time.”

“For example, in light of over 800 written and 200 in-person opposition testimonies against Ohio Senate Bill 1, important actions have been made [in] governing bodies within OSU — including an emergency resolution by the Undergraduate Student Government and a letter of concern by the Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate to the President, Provost, Board of Trustees and University Senate on Friday February 7,” Finlay Fletcher said.?

Finlay Fletcher said the anticipated establishment of the Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society — despite a 64-57 University Senate vote against the center’s construction Jan. 23 — also indicates the university’s positioning away from its shared values. The center was introduced in Senate Bill 117 as an intellectual diversity center to “cure the leftist bias on campus” according to the Ohio Senate website.

“Furthermore, as the Board of Trustees prepares to meet to establish the politically partisan Chase Center as a tenure-initiating unit, bypassing the vote against it by the University Senate, we are concerned — and President Carter’s message affirms this — that there is a climate of anticipatory obedience at OSU rather than a clear and firm message affirming the university’s shared values,” Finlay Fletcher said.

Erynn Beaton, an AAUP member and associate professor in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, said in an email she feels the university is doing all it can at the federal level, as it is unlikely to have any influence over executive orders. Still, she said Ohio State has a wider ability to impact state legislation?

“At the state level, OSU has far more influence than at the federal level and should be doing more publicly and privately to prevent harmful legislation from passing,” Beaton said.?

The website provides various university resources, directing faculty with questions about classroom instruction to contact the Office of Faculty Affairs or review resources provided by the Michael V. Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning.?

There are also links to past webpages related to university policies and resources, like those for key issues, academic freedom and Ohio State’s philosophy on institutional and leadership statements.

This story was updated Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025 at 2:26 p.m. to reflect Fletcher’s view on the university’s values more accurately.?