Ohio: together, we break records.
On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, we brought a State Senate record number of opponents to the Senate Workforce and Higher Education Committee to testify against Senate Bill 83, the Higher Education Destruction Act. Organized opposition of this immensity is rare in Ohio’s Statehouse; it’s notable that the most recent similar example was the opposition mounted to Senate Bill 5, which similarly threatened workers’ rights. Senate Bill 83 and its companion House Bill 151 are the Higher Education Destruction Act, and they are bad for students, bad for higher education, and bad for Ohio.
Rather than listening (as our democratic and civic processes require) to the 500+ Ohioans asking questions, raising arguments, and citing sources against Senate Bill 83, Commitee Chair and Senate Bill 83 sponsor Senator Cirino allowed the unusual request of House Bill 151 co-sponsor Representative Josh Williams to open the hearing, even though Rep. Williams will be given ample time to share his personal viewpoint when he provides sponsor testimony in the House Higher Education Committee for HB 151.
Ohioans, we ask you to join us in making a statement that the democratic process must be honored. Our efforts to show up in person, to provide personal testimony, to demonstrate what we know about the potential impacts of the Higher Education Destruction Act, cannot be allowed to go unanswered. We demand that our state leaders be less motivated by out-of-state interests and donors, and more motivated by their obligation to solve the real problems of workers, students, and Buckeyes like you and me.
Please join us in telling the sponsors of the Higher Education Destruction Act: we are here, we are strong, and we will not be ignored.
Join this growing list of people mobilizing to protect higher education in Ohio:
John McNay, AAUP National Council
Sara Kilpatrick, Executive Director, AAUP Ohio Conference
Pranav Jani, President, AAUP-OSU
Jill Galvan, Executive Board Member, AAUP-OSU
Lisa Voigt, Secretary, Ohio Conference AAUP, Executive Board Member, AAUP-OSU
Melissa Cropper, President, Ohio Federation of Teachers
Scott DiMauro, President, Ohio Education Association
Cynthia Peeples, founding director, Honesty for Ohio Education
Kim Eckhart, Director, Children's Defense Fund-Ohio
Ohio Student Association
Renee L. Bowling, PhD Candidate, Department of Educational Studies, The Ohio State University
Sam Klein, economics undergraduate student, The Ohio State University
Maria Vitoria de Rezende Grisi, Graduate Teaching Associate/Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University
Kendal Guagenti, Miami University Global Health Alliance
Patrick Houlihan, Vice President of the Miami University College Democrats
Tyler Williams, Webmaster of the League of Geeks at Miami University
Emmanuel Long, Co-President & Co-Founder of the Undergraduate Society of Black Leaders at The Ohio State University
Grace Shults, psychology undergraduate student at the Ohio State University
Yondris Ferguson, Speaker of the 55th General Assembly of the Undergraduate Student Government at Ohio State
Jorge E. Clavo Abbass, President, Council of Graduate Students at The Ohio State University
Olivia Gallo, Organizational Leadership and Social Justice Major at Miami University
Brooklynn Campbell, President of Pride in STEMM at University of Akron
Ethan Dobres, finance and public management undergraduate, The Ohio State University
Catherine Less, political science and public policy undergraduate student, The Ohio State University
Victoria Bernhart, fashion merchandising and sustainability student, Kent State University
Angela Kladias, school psychology graduate student, and School Psychologists of the University of Dayton (SPUD) President, University of Dayton
Joe Bjorkman, philosophy, politics, and economics undergraduate, The Ohio State University
Yun Yi Amelie Thomas, environmental policy undergraduate, The Ohio State University
Ashley Reynolds, social justice undergraduate, Miami University
Lauren Chivington, PhD student and President of the Disability Studies Graduate Student Association at The Ohio State University
Thomas Jahnke, resident assistant and undergraduate, Kent State University
Tara Griffitts, Graduate Student Senator and Masters of Social Work student, Ohio University
Alex Stone, student and President of the Rainbow Alliance of Wright State University
Sasi Scott, music education student at Miami University Regionals at Middletown
Katie Hollington, environmental science student, Buck-I-Serv Board Member, and Student-Alumni Council Pay It Forward Coordinator, The Ohio State University
