"Just three people" took on Ohio education law -- and sparked a movement

[marmar]

(Salon) Some Ohio colleges and universities fell in line before Senate Bill 1, the “Advance Ohio Higher Education Act,” even passed through the state legislature. And when it finally did in March, it had a chilling effect. Universities shirked diversity, equity and inclusion programs to comply, and the silence from once-outspoken opponents was striking. Those early signs of kowtowing were bad indicators that the members of Youngstown State University’s faculty union just couldn’t get behind.

“There was such passion against SB 1 whenever it was being pushed through the legislature, so why isn't that passion still there?” Mandy Fehlbaum, a sociologist and the grievance chair for YSU’s chapter of the Ohio Education Association, recalled wondering in a phone interview. “Some people were saying, ‘Oh well, we worked so hard. Now we're tired, and we just have to accept it.’ And like, no, we don't have to accept it.”

So they set out to reverse it.

While other education unions are weighing legal action to overturn the law, which aims to overhaul the state’s higher education system, Fehlbaum, YSU-OEA president Mark Vopat and union spokesperson Cryshanna Jackson Leftwich chose to go political. They began an effort in April to get a referendum on the November ballot, starting with gathering signatures from the 1,000 registered Ohio voters necessary to have their petition certified to the secretary of state. They collected over 6,200 signatures from registered voters in just over a week and certified the petition in early May. ...................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/06/07/just-three-people-took-on-ohio-education-law--and-sparked-a-movement/

[Diamond_Dog]

1. Thank you for this, marmar!

4 out of my family of 5 are YSU grads. Former R congressman Bill Johnson is president there now. You never hear a peep out of him. When he was congressman he ran heavy on the “alien immigrant criminals” issue. He probably doesn’t want to rock the boat now and lose his sweet gig there.

I think Democratic and Union principles never totally left Youngstown. These requirements in this Ohio bill for colleges and universities are an abomination. Strictly limiting college classroom discussion ensures “freedom”?. It’s ridiculous! I am disappointed in DeWine, I thought he was better than this, even though he is a Republican. I am so proud of the three individuals who started this grassroots movement from YSU.