With little fanfare, the Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved the establishment of the state-mandated Salmon P. Chase Center for Civics, Culture, and Society Wednesday morning.
OSU Board Chair John Zeiger says the board fully supports the creation of the Chase Center and recognizes its importance.
"Our mission of preparing our students to be thoughtful members of our society will be advanced by this program,” said OSU Trustees Board Chair John Zeiger.
A 2023 state law required OSU to create an "independent academic unit" to teach and research the U.S. Constitution.
In a divided vote last month, Ohio State's University Senate did not give its blessing to the “intellectual diversity” center.
"There's been strong agreement among us that the legislative justification for the Chase Center — that teaching and research at Ohio State is ideologically biased rather than evidence-based — is based on fundamentally false premises. We all have agreed on that," said University Senate Faculty Council Chair Sara Watson, an associate professor of political science.
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The university eliminated the position of senior vice provost of inclusive excellence. Meanwhile, the school's interim vice provost for diversity and inclusion retired.
Some Senate members, however, wanted to establish a relationship with the inevitable center, leading to a split 64-to-57 vote among the faculty, students, staff and administrators who comprise the university senate.
Well before Wednesday’s official vote to establish the Chase Center, OSU hired conservative legal scholar Lee Strang to run the facility. During the trustee meeting, Zeiger lauded Strang's leadership so far.
“Given the diligent collaborative work of Professor Lee Strang, who is the center's first inaugural executive director, his efforts to integrate this center into the academic life of this university have been important and effective,” Zeiger said.
Zeiger also acknowledged the center’s creation was mandated by the Ohio General Assembly, but stressed that the board considered it a good addition to Ohio State’s academic offerings.
“We believe the Chase Center can be a model of excellence and an integral part of this university as it fulfills its mission,” Zeiger said.
Trustees on Wednesday also extended the contract of head football coach Ryan Day through Jan. 31, 2032.
The contract added three years to Day's previous agreement and gives him a base salary of $2 million per year, but his total compensation is around $12.5 million annually.
Day led the Buckeyes to a national championship win this year after a record-tying 14-win season.
