With a heavy heart, the Ohio Student Association mourns for our universities. In the late afternoon of Friday, March 28, Governor Mike DeWine killed higher education in the state of Ohio by signing the universally detested Senate Bill 1–a bill that students and faculty alike have been fighting since its introduction as SB 83 in 2023. 

This is a heartbreaking and devastating blow to the students and educators of Ohio. Our fight against SB 1’s passage concluded behind closed doors as our governor chose to cower to the pressure of partisan extremists. DeWine has sacrificed the future of Ohio’s higher education in exchange for culture war political points in the twilight hours of his final term. 

Ohio students courageously, relentlessly, and powerfully fought Senate Bill 1 since day one, unwaveringly warning of SB 1’s grave consequences. Instead of surrendering to comfortable cowardice like the presidents, administrators, and lobbyists of our universities who had the power to prevent this bill’s passage, students refused to back down. Thousands of students learned to write testimony, called their representatives, rallied on our campuses, came to the statehouse, and marched in the streets demanding justice for our shared future. The overwhelming disapproval of this bill broke records, receiving over 1,700 pieces of opponent testimony. 

With a smile on his face, Governor DeWine willfully signed a death sentence to your hard-earned scholarships, your sacred homes on campus, and the programs that keep you safe. Know that Governor DeWine deliberately chose to deprive you of a quality college education. When your major is cut, when professors chill their speech, when truth leaves our classrooms, when faculty vacate our state, when enrollment rates decline, thank Governor DeWine, who had all the power to stop it. 

Beyond a 1,000-person march from the Ohio State University to the Statehouse with a banner reading “DeWine: Veto SB 1”, OSA called and sent letters and emails urging our governor to meet with us, and hear our stories, calling on him to veto this bill. In our letter, we warned that his contributions to education will be erased from collective memory by his decision to dismantle Ohio’s public universities. All that he has done for our state’s most vulnerable students is undone in the act of signing this bill. 

The people of Ohio fought like hell to stop SB 1–students, faculty, unions, parents, of all walks of life coming together to stand united against authoritarian attacks on higher ed. Today, we may grieve, but we will not surrender. As we have forecasted, Ohio’s students and educators alike will hurt tremendously upon this legislation’s implementation on June 25. OSA’s fight against the impacts of this bill will continue at our campus chapters across Ohio and in the coalitions we have built. Students will not be silenced. The power of the people will someday prevail.

----------------

The Ohio Student Association is a statewide grassroots organization anchored by student-led chapters on college campuses across Ohio that organize issue campaigns to fight for racial, economic, and educational justice.