When Ohio’s Senate Bill 1 became law, it required universities to create a reporting process to file complaints against those who may be in violation of the bill’s requirements. That includes its prohibition of DEI-related initiatives and faculty strikes and its creation of intellectual diversity requirements.
The reporting process was controversial among Ohio legislators, university faculty and students. Now, less than a year later, any student, faculty, staff or university department can be reported due to allegations of not fully complying with SB1.
As of March 9, seven complaints have been filed against Kent State University faculty, staff and university housing, according to documents provided by the university’s general counsel in response to a public records request.
Why and how faculty are responding to SB1
In a campus-wide, confidential survey of 38 faculty members conducted by the Spring 2026 Advanced Magazine Writing class in Kent State’s School of Media and Journalism, 10 faculty (26 percent of respondents) said they’ve worried that a student will report them for alleged SB1 violations during class…