Republican Ohio lawmakers' goal of tackling perceived liberal bias on college campuses took a step forward this week when Ohio State University announced its first executive director of the new Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society.
University of Toledo conservative legal scholar Dr. Lee Strang was tapped by a search team of OSU professors to lead the Chase Center. The center was one of several such facilities created with $24 million from this year's capital budget passed by the Ohio General Assembly and signed by Gov. Mike DeWine.
Strang is no stranger to this sort of work. He previously led Toledo's Institute of American Constitutional Thought and Leadership, which was formed in 2019.
The new Chase Center is set to open this fall.
Strang told WOSU he has spent his entire professional life reading, writing, discussing and debating on the constitution and how to interpret it. He said the Chase Center's sole focus won't be on teaching specific constitutional interpretations, but helping people with differing views find common ground on divisive and polarizing topics.
Strang gave an example of a recent seminar he hosted at the University of Toledo debating whether Donald Trump is eligible to run for office in the midst of his pending criminal prosecutions.
Strang said more than 200 people came to hear scholars with two different opinions debate how the 14th amendment applies to the case. He said they came away with increased skills in having dialogue in a civil manner and disposition even when they disagree.
"They came away sitting next to somebody with a different letter after their name. An 'R,' a 'D,' and 'I,' whatever it might be, and recognizing that this person who sat next to me has a different view, but we're engaged in a common project of self-government in a pluralistic republic," Strang said.
OSU said in a news release that when it is fully operational, the Chase Center will have at least 15 tenure-track faculty members and provide a variety of innovative educational and collaboration opportunities for students and faculty from across the university.
The center will be an independent academic center physically housed in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs.
In a news release on Strang's hiring, Ohio State officials lauded his experience and touted his ability to help support open dialogue and diverse viewpoints about American history, culture and politics.
“Lee is an exceptional constitutional scholar with a wealth of administrative experience, and we are excited that he will join the university to stand up and lead the new Salmon P. Chase Center,” Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Karla Zadnik said. “Our shared goal is for the center to become a national leader in teaching, research and engagement on U.S. civics, culture and society.”
College campuses across the country are accused of having a "liberal bias" by conservatives, which is why many Ohio lawmakers supported creating these centers. Strang's own alma mater, the University of Iowa, conducted surveys in 2020 that found a majority of conservatives on campus felt their beliefs were respected on campus.
While Ohio State University has not published such a survey, Strang said he thinks that sentiment is shared among conservatives on college campuses.
Strang has history of conservative advocacy and academic research
Strang's body of work includes research and authoring books on the first amendment and constitutional interpretations. Most recently, he published "Originalism's Promise," a book about the justification for originalism as an interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.
Originalism is the belief that the U.S. Constitution should only be read according to what is believed to be the writers' original meanings over two centuries ago, as compared to other interpretations that argue for a constitutional interpretation that evolves as time goes on.
Past and present conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have described themselves as originalists.
Strang's career has also led him to testify on behalf of multiple bills before the Ohio General Assembly in recent years. He testified on behalf of Ohio lawmakers' attempt to institute a 60% threshold to pass amendments to the Ohio Constitution.
“The constitution will be better able to serve its mission of being our stable, fundamental law for the next 175 years, when amendments receive support from over 60% of Ohioans," Strang testified before the Ohio Legislature in March of last year.
Ohio voters soundly rejected that proposal in August. It was seen as an attempt to prevent the passage of the state's constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights, which passed in November.
Strang is also connected to the anti-abortion movement in Ohio. Strang testified before the Ohio Legislature in favor of banning abortion care several times between 2011 and 2019.
In 2021, Strang filed an amicus brief in the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organizaton U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned Roe v. Wade. In a footnote, he thanked the Ohio-based anti-abortion organization Center for Christian Virtue for funding the brief.
Strang being hired drew mixed reaction online due to his past support of conservative positions.
The Ohio Conference of the American Association of University Professors reacted on X, formerly known on Twitter and said "Interesting shuffling happening." The organization opposed Ohio Senate Bill 83, which sought to add these centers and institute several other reforms to higher education.
Aaron Baer, the President of the conservative Center for Christian Virtue, called the hiring "huge news" on X.
Strang defended himself and said he would commit to fostering a variety of viewpoints within America's civic tradition.
"When you look at my actions as the director of the Institute of American Constitutional Thought, there is no reasonable substantive criticism of the actions of that institute. The institute has hewed to the mission of identifying from a variety of perspectives of the American constitutional tradition that we all hold in common," Strang said.
How will the Chase Center work?
Strang wants to accomplish the mission of the Chase Center in four ways.
Strang said he wants to create a civil discourse class at OSU that would have students discuss controversial topics like climate change, gun control and abortion. The professor in charge would curate the best arguments from different perspectives on those respective topics. The students read about the topics, the students debate about them in class and then the students will write papers sharing their thoughts regarding those respective topics.
Strang said at the end of the class there will be face-to-face discussions with people who disagree with you, and reflection on how the course has helped them become better at having productive conversations philosophical differences.
"I think many Americans, including myself, hold this view that somewhere along the line over the last 10, 15, 20 years, we Americans have lost the ability to engage with people of difference in a productive and respectful way," Strang said.
Other classes could tackle the history of different political ideologies like liberalism and conservatism.
The other ways the Chase Center would operate is through academic research and programming, like seminars, that could be open to the wider public. Separately, there would be student programming and activities like meeting "thought leaders," and giving students opportunities to work on skills including research, writing and oral advocacy.
Strang doesn't commit to hiring liberal staff, but says Chase Center will help decrease polarization in society long term
Strang said when he picks the 15 faculty members to work at the Chase Center, he will choose from inside and outside OSU's current faculty base.
Strang, who is a conservative, did not say if he would hire liberal faculty members. He said he won't make a person's political ideology a factor in hiring.
Strang said the most important criteria would be if the applicant supports the Chase Center's mission.
Strang said he thinks people from a broad range of political perspectives will be interested in applying.
"I'm confident that the Chase Center, by focusing on its mission, by offering something that is attractive to all Americans, will attract faculty, any OSU and outside of OSU, from all perspectives," Strang said.
Strang said he thinks higher education has failed at showing the public they aren't biased towards liberals.
"Higher education has done a really poor job showing the public and showing... about half (Ohio), half of your fellow citizens that you're doing this rich and robust debate," Strang said.
Strang pointed to research and news articles that question why college campuses are hiring more liberal professors than conservative ones.
Strang said at minimum, what centers like the Chase Center do is they are examples to the public and are reaching out to the public.
"Hey, you may have concerns. Maybe those concerns are correct, maybe they're incorrect. But what we do here at the center is we focus on what is a common part of our civic tradition. And we do so in a way that invites all different citizens to participate in that," Strang said.
The long term goal is to get young Ohioans out into the world with what they learn at the Chase Center to impact polarization in the broader society, Strang said.
He added that he does think evidence bears out there is deep political polarization in the country and it is increasing.
Strang said he hopes the Chase Center can be one piece of the puzzle to reversing the polarization trend.
"I view the Chase Center as being one among many answers to the polarization in the broader culture and some of the polarization in higher education," Strang said.
