Ohio's state budget passed in 2023 allocated funds to launch "intellectual diversity" centers at five public universities, with the intent of boosting different viewpoints at such institutions. Since then, those selected colleges have been tasked with forming academic councils and hiring directors to run the centers.
But such details about what those centers will offer and when they'll be up and running remain a mystery for university faculty, who say administrators have not answered many of their questions.
What are 'intellectual diversity' centers?
The idea for "intellectual diversity" centers come from Senate Bill 117, which was added to and passed in last year's state budget. State Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland) co-sponsored the bill with fellow Senator Rob McColley (R-Napoleon), and issued this statement after Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill into law.
"The bill is needed because ideology is replacing the lessons of history on campus," he wrote. "And the less students learn about and embrace America’s founding principles and ideals, the more free speech is disappearing from our citadels of higher education and, subsequently, our entire nation.
"Leftist ideology has a monopoly on most college campuses that is squashing intellectual diversity and punishing wrong-think and anti-woke dogma. But I do not believe the way to cure the leftist bias on campus is by foisting conservative ideology on academia. I believe the real fix is to ensure neutrality on the part of the instructors and administrators. Let all sides be heard. Let students decide for themselves what is true. Let free speech be preserved and protected. That is the American way. It should be taught in our universities again."
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Legislators selected Ohio State, Cleveland State, the University of Toledo, Wright State, and Miami University to install these civic centers on campus. The University of Cincinnati was one of the five schools chosen for the initiative, but a university spokesperson says UC was later removed from the legislation, and the funds for its civic center were sent to Wright State, which was not included at first.
The civic centers will operate as independent academic divisions within Ohio's colleges but will report directly to the universities. State legislation says each center will conduct "teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society."
Some centers will have specific areas of focus like the one housed in the University of Toledo's College of Law, which will revolve around American constitutional studies, along with "the core texts and great debates of Western civilization." Wright State University's center will have a focus on the United States armed forces.
A 'duplication of resources'?
Although these civic centers have some short descriptions, some faculty at these schools say they've been left in the dark about how they'll impact students, faculty, and their school's academic credibility.
Robert Rubin, president of Wright State's faculty union, says there's been little discussion about the center at his school.
Wright State appointed Jason Anderson as the university's Center for Civic, Culture, and Workforce Development director in late 2024. Anderson is a U.S. Air Force officer and director of digital innovation and integration at the Air Force Institute of Technology at the Wright-Patterson Air Force base.
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The college's board of trustees also appointed an academic council to run the center. That council includes some Wright State administrators and department chairs but also features a few business leaders who don't work for the university. Rubin says the council could've included more faculty members familiar with the subjects the center will focus on.
"The council seems to be comprised of people who may not necessarily be academics," Rubin told WVXU. "If we're creating an academic center that is being overseen by people who don't have academic qualifications, this to me seems to be problematic."
Rubin also says from what he can tell, much of what the center intends to cover exists in courses and programs already offered by Wright State.
"Politicians who are in support of creating this center and have created this center tend to be, I thought, fiscally conservative. This seems to fly in the face of that kind of approach. It seems to be a duplication of resources and potentially a waste of taxpayers' dollars," he said.
At Miami University, English professor and faculty union negotiator Theresa Kulbaga says her college's faculty largely feel the same way.
Outside of an online announcement stating the center will operate within the university's College of Arts & Science — along with the already-existing Menard Family Center for Democracy — Kulbaga says her peers have been left out of the conversion.
"Even though it has all kinds of potential curricular implications that honestly faculty should be asked to weigh in on because curriculum is our specialty and our expertise, we've really been kept in the dark and we've heard very, very little," she said.
Miami's trustees have appointed an academic council but have yet to name a director for its Center for Civics, Culture, and Society. An online job posting for the role lists the maximum salary for the director at just over $213,000 a year.
While the civic centers at all five Ohio public colleges have received state funding to get started, there's no guarantee that funding will be extended to sustain them.
Miami's faculty union is currently negotiating with university leaders for an initial contract agreement. Kulbaga says although progress is being made, faculty wages are a point of contention at the bargaining table. She worries the university may be left holding the bag if Ohio lawmakers decide to direct those tax dollars elsewhere.
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"It's a grave concern for the union that Miami may be forced by the state to potentially fund this center beyond its first two years and divert some of the funds that would be appropriately spent in other ways into this mandated center," Kulbaga said.
When asked when Miami's civic center will name a director and open to students, a portion of a statement sent by a university spokesperson read, "Because the director has the discretion to hire Center faculty and determine and develop Center courses, the timeline for these will be established once the director is in place."
A spokesperson from Wright State received WVXU's request for a comment or interview, but after several days did not provide a response from the university before this article's publication.
