The state of Ohio has a controversial Bill sitting on our governor’s desk that would change higher education as we know it. House Bill 83 is one of many all over the country that has been introduced by conservative White, mostly evangelical, politicians. Let’s review a few key points of its content. An article from ACLU by Celina Coming helped save me some time in interpreting the Bill (although I did read it to ensure these data points were correct).

1. No DEI training of any kind.

All DEI training, lessons, and so on – for any reason – would be eliminated.

    2) Contrived Definitions of “Segregation” and “Non-Discrimination” 

Each state institution shall prohibit all policies designed explicitly to segregate faculty, staff, or students by group identities such as race, sex, gender identity, or gender expression, including in orientations, majors, financial awards, residential housing, administrative employment, faculty employment, student training, extracurricular activities, and graduations.

This would include but not limit changes to:

• Dormitory living (students of same sex required to live together)
• Certain extracurricular groups, organizations, or activities
  • Using Ohio State University as an example, these would no longer be recognized or funded by OSU – using those that just start with the letter “A”
    • African American Voices Gospel Choir 
    • American Muslim Student Association
    • Armenian Students Association
    • Asian American InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
    • Association of Latino Professionals for America
    • Association of Native American Medical Students 
    • Association for Women in Mathematics Student Chapter 
    • Association of Women Dentists 

• No formal recognition of sororities and fraternities split by sex; 
• No single-sex sports teams; 
• No literature, presentations, trainings, etc., aimed at distinct student demographics on such topics as preventing and/or coping with sexual assault, human trafficking, birth control, LGBTQ issues and concerns;  
• No majors or courses of study on such topics as women’s studies, Pan-African studies, queer studies, etc.

All of the above, and surely much more, would be illegal as these examples can be interpreted as providing “advantage” (funding or official recognition, in this case), or endorsing or facilitating “segregation” by “membership in groups defined by characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”

3)Banning “Controversial Beliefs or Policies”

“Controversial belief or policy’ means any belief or policy that is the subject of political controversy, including issues such as climate change, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.” 

This description only covers a limited number of politized topics. Essentially, all topics today are capable of being the subject “of some “political controversy, from breast feeding or bottle feeding to how often and when one can engage in intimacy with their spouse or partner.

There is more, but let’s stop there and digest what we have itemized thus far. What if a university wants to generally encourage students to vote? Some people think 18 is too young, or that women should not be allowed. All of a sudden voting age and gender are political conversations.

A recent example of this is Cleta Mitchell, a longtime GOP lawyer and fundraiser who worked closely with former president Donald Trump, told a roomful of GOP donors in April 2023 that conservatives must band together to limit voting on college campuses, same-day voter registration and automatic mailing of ballots to registered voters.

Why? It appears the trends are not in her favor.

In removing any discussion that can be politicized, it eliminates the opportunity for critical thought. The purpose of the White Flight in higher education is not only to deprive BIPOC’s of literacy opportunities, but also deny White elite citizens of a diverse education and push STEM.

What is so wrong with pushing STEM? If taught correctly, nothing. Let’s take a peek.

ABCnew.com listed their 60 most lucrative post collegiate careers in the US and they included:

Robotics and automation

Strategic management

Applied economics and management

Architectural engineering

Telecommunications engineering

Database management

Physics

Manufacturing engineering technology

Accounting and computer systems

Applied physics

Nursing science

These are the top 10, however I did not see anything that represented a non-STEM major until number 38 on their list, cognitive science. But even then, they defined it as the study of the brain, which is under a medical science category, not social science, which is philosophy.

A few non-STEM majors are English, Philosophy, Business, Art and performative studies. More specifically, careers in:

Sociology

Journalism

Psychology

Education

Hospitality Management

History

Political Science

Social Studies

Music

Art

Dance

Why is this a concern?

All of these non-STEM studies tell their own interpretive story of humanity in some way. Interpretive. Therein lies the problem.

The concept of STEM is numerical. It tells a story within math however can be categorized within a black and white context. Without history or social science for instance, a very simple story can be told that lacks the complex secondary story. Our brains can only digest so much information at one time, so we rely on heuristics to condense it to a simplified, quicker context. Often times, that context comes from politicians, educators or religious leaders. For instance, if we did a quick review of the wealth gap of class and race in our country:

We could say that those that fall on the lower end are “lazy and unmotivated” or chose to be “drunk and high” while the upper class tiers are “hard working” and are “smarter”. On the contrary, when we add historical or psychological context of the secondary story, the perspective becomes more complex, and requires a different approach aside from oversimplifying black and white numbers to racist bigoted ideology.

When the discussion becomes more complex, it requires critical thought beyond a simple answer. It perhaps changes the narrative from one of “pride or fear” to “empathy and compassion”.

Why is empathy a problem? Isn’t that a basic human emotion that is needed?

Yes! It is! However, there is a neurological element to how empathy changes the chemistry of the brain. It ultimately leads to behavior change. When a person who has been able to oversimplify a complex situation their entire lives comes to understand it’s complexity, the brain changes, which can lead to behavioral change and action. Action requires something, whether it’s time, service, attention, or, the most telling piece of this entire conversation, money.

Empathy = Action.

Action > money.

Money = Control and Power.

Therefore, Empathy > Money.

Who has historically had money, control and power in our country? I don’t have to tell you, I’ll let them tell you.

The highest educated. Who has access to the highest education?

Whites.

Let’s look at who wants to limit non-STEM educational opportunity, privatize education to only offer it to the elite, and limit complex conversations in the classroom in higher education.

White American Republicans.

And why would they want to do that?

Money = Control and Power.

Ohio Bill 83 is rooted in discrimination toward race, however, will ultimately continue to harm the middle class by privatizing all education making it unattainable for the White middle class.

In response to OHB83, Ohio’s 14 public universities came together and wrote a letter to Senator Jerry C. Cirino to express their concerns with how the Bill will significantly increase the cost of higher education and make college unattainable for most Ohioans.  They point out how vague the language in the Bill is. “Phrases like “matters of social and political importance;” “controversial matters;” and “any social, political, or religious point of view” are phrases so broad and subjective that universities cannot ascertain the meaning without guessing.” There is an intentionality in allowing the language to be subject to interpretation by a conservative board for the purpose of extreme bias. With unclear language, there is more opportunity to pull funding from programs either forcing middle class taxpayers to find means to pay for explosive cost of higher education or limit their education to a single-story narrative that is easier to control.

This past week there was a conversation between (White) North Carolina Republican representative. Jeff and McNeely and (Black) Democrat Representative Abe Jones.

“I understand you went into the public school and you went to Harvard and Harvard Law,” Rep. Jeff McNeely said to Rep. Abe Jones. “And the question, I guess, is would you have been able to maybe achieve this if you were not an athlete or a minority or any of these things?”

“When I graduated from Harvard I was in rank two (out of five), so I earned my place and I did well,” Jones said. 

The origin of racism is in dehumanization. When the Portuguese started the slave trade, the Catholic Church forced their views onto African and Indigenous people. There was no peaceful conversion and mending of ideological differences. Conversion by missionaries was historically violent, dehumanizing, and destabilizing for African nations. White people justified African enslavement because they did not deem non-Christians worthy of respect.

Because slavery and racism are antithetical to Christian practice and law, they had to convince themselves and others that Blacks were genetically inferior, including intellectually.

This theory has been successful since its conception. Thomas Jefferson, a former president slave owner, who conceived 6 children with a slave named Sally Hemmings, seemed to understand the importance of equality of men. Even so, he stated in Notes on the State of Virginia in 1784 that Blacks “seem to require less sleep,” are “in reason much inferior” and concludes “therefore as a suspicion only, that the blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the whites in the endowments both of body and mind”. Rep. Jeff McNeely reiterates this concept once again, 239 years later, marginalizing his colleague’s ability to earn his place in academia.

This practice is not only in politics, in 2020, the NFL was sued after it was unearthed that dementia tests were being “race-normed” — adjusted due to assumptions that Black people have a lower cognitive baseline score, meaning, they are inherently less smart than Whites. The lawsuit forced the NFL to test solely based on cognition of the athlete, not the color of their skin.

Rep. Abe Jones and the NFL are just a few examples of controlling the narratives around BIPOC’s in academia. When looking at statistics, people of color have less of an opportunity to make the college Deans list, however, it’s not from cognitive ability, more, because the cards have been stacked against them since their existence on US soil. When correlating Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs with the wealth gap based upon race in our country, one can see the monetary and psychological disadvantage to achieve success than their White counterparts.  

Circling back to limiting education to a single-story narrative that is easier to control, the GOP is desperately attempting to deprive BIPOC’s of literacy. It’s not that People of Color are incapable of learning and applying education appropriately, but more, it would even the playing field. It would open the door to true capitalism where we all had a fighting chance to get to the top.

Unfortunately, within the effort to continue the White Flight in order for the GOP to clutch their generational wealth, the middle class will feel the pain of losing educational opportunities to maintain status quo. Looking once again at who has the most opportunity to create wealth and capital, college educated Americans succeed over all on the job training opportunities or trade schools.

College educated Americans.

House Bill 83 will have painful economic long term consequences. If you have not taken a peek, I highly recommend it. And, if you live in a red state, this concept could be on your senate floor as we speak.

Pay attention. Get educated. Literacy is power.