Over this past academic year, students at Ohio’s public colleges and universities have faced various violations of their rights, through the introduction of harmful legislation, the implementation of dangerous bills signed into law, and the recent mass signing of destructive Executive Orders at the federal level. In February, SB 1, a massive higher education overhaul bill, was introduced in the Senate. SB 1 was designed to cut all diversity, equity, and inclusion programming and limit free speech on college campuses. Even though more than 1,500 people submitted opponent testimony and students organized large protests and demonstrations, the bill was passed and then signed into law in late March.
Around the same time as when SB 1 was introduced, Ohio’s anti-trans bathroom bill went into effect. This bill requires students at higher education institutions in Ohio to use the bathroom that aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth. My own school, University of Cincinnati unnecessarily changed all bathroom signage to read “Biological Male/Female.” Although these signs were removed and UC has since acknowledged its error, this was an attack on the safety and security of students and an embarrassment for our institution.
In the midst of these threats, students across the state have worked to mobilize and protect their campus community from these ongoing violations. They have organized protests and demonstrations, submitted many pieces of opponent testimony, and made phone calls to their representatives, displaying how much power student voices hold. Our Campus Action Team chapters across the state have been one of the strongest leaders in this fight.
The ACLU of Ohio Campus Action Teams (CATs) are an extension of our regional, statewide Action Teams. They focus on advocating for students’ civil rights and civil liberties through organizing, mobilizing, and power-building. CATs serve as a vehicle to strengthen the skills of student leaders as well as prepare them to take action and defend democracy.
As a leader of the University of Cincinnati’s Campus Action Team chapter, I have seen and experienced how students have been impacted by these threats to their civil rights and civil liberties. However, they have responded to these challenges with strength and dignity and have used their collective power to protect those around them. Our focus has been on fighting to protect the best parts of academic life and intellectual freedom alive on college campuses.
Though this school year has come to a close, these threats have only escalated. In April, 15 colleges and universities in Ohio announced that 62 international students had their visas revoked. This is a continuation of attacks that will intensify if schools adhere to 287(g) agreements.
287(g) agreements allow federal authorities to carry out immigration enforcement activities in our local communities. These agreements are dangerous for many reasons, especially in terms of eroding public safety, adding financial burdens to localities, and creating civil rights violations. The ACLU of Ohio recently sent a letter to the administration at all of Ohio’s colleges and universities, demanding that they not enter into 287(g) agreements and protect their students from continued immigration enforcement. While this action has already received widespread attention, we know that there is still more that can be done to protect students.
Student voices matter. We demand that Ohio’s colleges and universities live up to their values and commit to protecting their students by rejecting any MOUs or 287(g) agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). College and university leadership should refuse to voluntarily collaborate with the Trump administration’s attacks on free speech, academic freedom, and the rights of international students.
College campuses should be places where everyone feels welcome and that they belong – not the opposite. Ohio’s campuses must be places of learning, not distress. Spaces of community, not criminalization. Our colleges and universities must defend our rights as students and refuse to be involved with attacks from both the state and federal government.
Let’s keep Ohio campuses as places of inclusion – not fear.
Add your name to the petition and reach out to regional campus leads to learn how to sign the faculty and staff letter.
