COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio House is mulling a major higher education bill that would ban DEI, but Ohio is not the first state to implement such legislation.

Senate Bill 1 had its first House committee hearing Tuesday after the Ohio Senate fast-tracked the legislation despite overwhelming opponent testimony. The sweeping bill is similar to legislation enacting various bans on DEI on the books in 10 other states. See previous coverage on S.B. 1 in the video player above.

Although it would be revolutionary in Ohio, S.B. 1 mirrors DEI bans on the books in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Bills in Florida, Iowa and Tennessee appear to most closely mimic what is outlined in Senate Bill 1.

Pranav Jani, English and ethnic studies professor and president of a faculty advocacy chapter at Ohio State University, said S.B. 1 would decrease professors’ ability to accurately teach subjects. A 2024 faculty survey conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) found one in five faculty in the U.S. are already censoring themselves in academic settings, and one in three have toned down their writing to avoid controversy. 

The FIRE survey isolated results from individual schools, and between 42%-53% of staff at universities affected by anti-DEI legislation reported feeling academic freedom was insecure on campus. At Ohio State, 38% of faculty said academic freedom was not secure. The survey was administered before S.B. 1 was introduced, so the bill did not impact results. Jani said he and other OSU professors felt S.B. 1 is an attack on academic freedom and students’ learning.

“No matter what they say about ‘this is not against free speech,’ it actually is going to be against not just free speech, but academic freedom, which are two different things,” Jani said.

The Pullias Center for Higher Education found anti-DEI legislation in Texas led to students of color reporting declines in academic performance, emotional well-being and a sense of campus belonging. They found 44.5% of Texas students reported not learning about race from anyone on campus. One in three respondents said they felt angry or frustrated because of the racial climate on campus after the legislation passed.

Jill Galvan, a professor of English at OSU, said legislation like S.B. 1 may drive students and faculty out of the state. She said faculty are already reporting concerns among potential hires who ask “nervous questions” about what is going on in Ohio.

The UCLA School of Law surveyed LGBTQ+ faculty on the impact of anti-DEI legislation in higher education. Almost half of those surveyed said anti-DEI legislation led them to explore moving to another state, and 36% said they are considering leaving academia entirely.

Galvan said the bill may also deter students, which could be an even bigger problem for attracting competitive scholars and future workers. She said the bill mentions workers but may lose the benefit of attracting future workers who want to stay in the state after attending college here. In a competitive market like higher education, Galvan said S.B. 1 may put Ohio behind.

“Nationally, public universities are being defunded by the state, like the investment by the state has gone down significantly in the past two decades,” Galvan said. “It means they have to really develop a traditional business competitive model and in order to get funding, so what they’re doing is they’re competing with one another across states.”

Whether anti-DEI legislation has been a deterrent for students is inconsistent across states with active bans. NBC4 combined fall enrollment totals from three of the most highly attended universities across five states that have enacted anti-DEI legislation to compare with combined totals from three major Ohio universities: Ohio State, the University of Cincinnati and Ohio University.

The COVID-19 pandemic adjusted enrollment numbers, so 2019 enrollment totals are available for pre-pandemic comparison. Legislation was enacted in 2022 and 2023 in Tennessee, in 2023 in Florida and Texas, and in 2024 in Alabama and Tennessee.

The comparison found enrollment in Alabama and Iowa declined after anti-DEI legislation was implemented but rose in Texas, Florida and Tennessee. Ohio’s numbers have not been affected by active legislation, as S.B. 1 is not currently law and was not introduced in fall 2021, although similar legislation has been proposed in the state before.

S.B. 1 had its first hearing March 4, and has not yet been scheduled for additional House hearings, although they are expected in the coming weeks.