Latest news with #MeganHenry
West Australian
19-05-2025
- Sport
- West Australian
Wagin's Megan Henry first woman to win Arthur Marshall coaching excellence award at Tennis West Awards 2025
Distinguished regional tennis coach Megan Henry is the first women ever to receive the Arthur Marshall coaching excellence award at the Tennis West Awards against Statewide nominees. Henry was supported by family, friends, tennis students and Dumbleyung Tennis Club members when she accepted the award at the Optus Stadium Riverview Room on May 9. The 45-year-old started coaching at 22, leading to the establishment of Megan Henry Tennis which offers mentoring, training, cardio tennis and more across 32 Wheatbelt and Great Southern locations. Henry said the award was a milestone in WA sport because she was the first woman to win the category. 'It is a very male-dominated industry and I learnt after the awards I'm only one of four business operators in the State who are female, so it's a massive milestone for women in sport and coaches in WA,' she said. 'I am very blessed to be able to coach and mentor other female coaches across the State. 'I had all male coaches growing up and I really noticed that as a female, and then one lady came along who was a female coach, and it was like a light-bulb moment. 'That's a drive for me, to be visible in so many communities so young girls and boys can see there sisters, mums and daughters can be coaches.' Growing up in Wagin and a dedicated Dumbleyung Tennis Club member after living there for years, Henry said the award showed regional tennis was thriving. 'It is not just a win for myself and my business but a win for regional tennis, women coaches, and small rural clubs,' she said. 'Our small clubs are bursting, with participation levels going through the roof. 'I feel really proud because it's a lot of hard work, hours, early mornings and late nights on the road. 'It's wonderful for our clubs, the schools and communities that support me. It's like a beautiful ecosystem. 'The kids and adults are getting physical and mental health wellbeing, focusing on movement, connection, friendship and life skills, so coaching is not just about the sport.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Are Ohio employers next when it comes to DEI prohibitions?
Hundreds of students protested against Senate Bill 1 on Ohio State's campus on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal). A series of executive orders by President Donald Trump targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives have many companies and organizations scurrying to determine if they need to change or even scrap their diversity and inclusion policies. Those in Ohio may even be more worried and confused, due to a new state law that prohibits DEI in public higher education. This confusion is likely exacerbated by the fact that, as any labor and employment lawyer will attest, there is no standard definition of DEI in the human resources universe – leaving much to interpretation. What is certain is that sweeping changes to DEI are underway, and Ohio's private companies need to quickly come up to speed on what may be required of them soon. A good place to start is a review of a series of presidential orders in January. Although these orders target primarily federal agencies and their contractors, federal agencies are directed to submit reports identifying private sector companies with the most 'egregious and discriminatory' DEI programs. As a result, several high-profile companies – including Meta, Target, Walmart, Google and PepsiCo – either reduced or eliminated their DEI programs. Then, in late March, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed legislation banning DEI programs at the state's public colleges and universities. Before the bill even passed the Ohio legislature, the state's largest school – Ohio State University – closed two campus offices focused on DEI and eliminated more than a dozen staff positions. Other schools, including the University of Cincinnati and Miami University, followed suit once the ink was dry on the legislation. While the new state law doesn't target Ohio's private employers, it has left some wondering if they, too, will be required to scale back or end their DEI initiatives. This confusion isn't helped by the fact that the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) – whose job it is to investigate complaints of discrimination and sue employers who violate federal employment discrimination laws – is itself in disarray after the commission's two Democrats were fired in January. Yet, there are some recent 'technical assistance documents' from the EEOC that, while not as impactful as commission regulations and guidelines, provide insights to employers on how they should consider various DEI questions. In a newly released document titled 'What You Should Know About DEI-Related Discrimination at Work,' the agency poses a series of questions and responses that may be helpful to companies. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Some of the questions and answers are well-known to many corporate HR specialists and employment lawyers, such as whether an individual can file a federal discrimination lawsuit related to DEI at their work without taking any other steps. The answer is no, because an individual must first file a charge of discrimination with the EEOC, which then must complete an administrative process before the person can file a federal lawsuit. Another question asks whether protections under federal Title VII 'only apply to individuals who are part of a minority group.' Again, the answer is no, because these protections apply equally to all workers, the EEOC states, and 'different treatment based on race, sex, or another protected characteristic can be unlawful discrimination, no matter which employees or applicants are harmed.' Other questions have sound answers, but may not be reflective of actual practice in some workplaces. For example, in response to the question, 'When is a DEI initiative, policy, program, or practice unlawful under Title VII,' the EEOC provides several examples of such unlawful conduct, including separating workers into groups based on race, sex or another protected class for administering DEI or other training. The agency notes that employers should provide 'training and mentoring that provides workers of all backgrounds the opportunity, skill, experience, and information necessary to perform well, and to ascend to upper-level jobs.' In truth, however, I'm fairly certain this practice has taken place at some companies – and recently. A different question asks whether a client preference or request for diversity is a defense against intentional race discrimination. The answer is no, with the EEOC stating a 'client or customer preference is not a defense to race or color discrimination' and 'basing employment decisions on the racial preferences of clients, customers, or coworkers constitutes intentional race discrimination.' The EEOC goes on to say that 'employment decisions based on the discriminatory preferences of clients, customers, or coworkers are just as unlawful as decisions based on an employer's own discriminatory preferences.' That certainly sounds like the correct legal answer. However, in everyday business, it is not unusual for some clients/customers to require their vendors to provide race information of their employees, with the insinuation of stacking accounts with minority employees. Even more confused? All the more reason Ohio companies should, against this backdrop of anti-DEI measures, immediately begin reviewing their DEI initiatives and programs, as well as information about those programs posted on their websites, in public filings and social media. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Students, faculty are asking Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine to veto massive higher ed overhaul bill
Hundreds of students protested against Senate Bill 1 on Ohio State's campus on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal). Ohio college students, faculty and staff are calling on Gov. Mike DeWine to veto a massive higher education bill that would ban diversity and inclusion on campus and prevent faculty from striking. Lawmakers concurred with tweaks made to Senate Bill 1 during Wednesday's Senate session, sending the bill to DeWine's desk for his signature. DeWine received the bill Wednesday and has 10 days to sign the bill into law or veto it. If DeWine vetoes the bill, lawmakers would need a 3/5 vote from each chamber to override it. DeWine, however, has previously said he would sign the bill. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX S.B. 1 would set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, create a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things. For classroom discussion, the bill would set rules around topics involving 'controversial beliefs' such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion, and forbid 'indoctrination,' though that remains undefined. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio's public universities. 'Republicans showed us they'd rather gamble with our economic future than solve real problems in our state,' Ohio Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth Walters said in a statement. 'Instead of growing our state, Republicans are driving students, young adults, and business away from Ohio. We're urging Governor DeWine to do the right thing and veto this legislation.' Students say they will leave Ohio if lawmakers go forward with massive higher education overhaul The Ohio Senate Democratic Caucus sent a letter to DeWine urging him to veto S.B. 1. 'This legislation is a misguided attempt by overreaching legislators to impose their ideological beliefs on our public universities,' the letter said. 'The bill undermines academic freedom, attacks collective bargaining rights, and jeopardizes the future of higher education in our state.' The Ohio House Minority Caucus also sent a letter to DeWine asking him to veto the bill. 'You have an opportunity to protect the future of Ohio's institutions of higher education, and your legacy as Ohio's governor, by vetoing this bill and requiring the legislature to negate terms that are more amenable to the will of Ohioans,' the letter read. The ACLU of Ohio wants DeWine to veto S.B. 1 and protect free speech on campus. 'By dismantling DEI structures, Senate Bill 1 sends a clear, harmful message to students that their unique backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives are not welcome in Ohio,' ACLU of Ohio Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick said in a statement. Anticipating S.B. 1 would pass during Wednesday's Senate session, members of the Ohio Legislative Black Caucus urged DeWine to veto S.B. 1 during a press conference earlier that day. 'This is one of the worst government overhauls that I've seen to date,' said state Rep. Terrence Upchurch, D-Cleveland. 'It will not only limit our First Amendment right to free speech, ban strikes and collective bargaining rights for professors, it threatens opportunities for our students, undermines workforce development and disproportionately harms black and minority communities.' State Rep. Desiree Tims, D-Dayton, said S.B. 1 is toxic, racist and a threat to free speech and academic freedom. 'Since when is diversity, equity and inclusion a bad thing?' she asked. 'Why is this necessary? The only answer is, so that we can move backwards, pre-civil rights … progress that this country and this nation has stood for. … Senate Bill 1 turns the ugly page back in history, somewhere we do not want to go, where we should not go.' Ohio University Journalism School Director Eddith Dashiell talked about how the university's journalism school did not give out 12 race-based scholarships totaling $46,000 last year after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against race-conscious admissions in 2023. More than 800 people submit testimony against Ohio's massive higher education overhaul bill 'The diversity scholarships weren't designed to discriminate against white students,' she said. 'The diversity scholarships were designed to encourage more students of color to come to little old, white Athens, Ohio and get a quality education.' S.B. 1 will be detrimental to Ohio's higher education, Dashiell said. 'If it hadn't been for an extra effort at Ohio University to diversify the faculty, I would still be in Tennessee,' she said. 'We also urge that Governor DeWine veto this bill because it's going to hurt our students. It's going to hurt those who will benefit from diversity programs and benefit from these diversity scholarships.' Ohio State University's Chair of the Undergraduate Black Caucus Jessica Asante-Tutu said this bill runs the risk of forcing Ohioans to move out of state. 'Students learn best in environments that encourage exchanges, where ideas flow freely and where differences are respected,' she said. 'This bill stifles all of that.' As an Olentangy Liberty High School student in Delaware County, Michelle Huang said S.B. 1 hangs over her head as she thinks about applying for colleges this fall. 'The threat of this bill passing is a deterrent from us attending Ohio State in the first place,' she said. 'What DEI is actually doing is actually promoting more discourse and promoting more intellectual diversity.' Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republicans in Ohio and nationally are waging war on freedom of thought and expression in higher ed
Hundreds of students protested against Senate Bill 1 on Ohio State's campus on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal). We have seen dictatorial regimes throughout history attempt to destroy great institutions of higher learning that fail to sufficiently align themselves with the ruling ideology of the state. But we've never seen it happen in Ohio or the United States — until now. In Columbus, demagogic rulers, ignoring massive opposition, have moved to dramatically tighten their control over the state's public universities, constrict academic freedoms, and ban faculty from striking. Ohio colleges and universities, including Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, are also being terrorized by Trumpian investigations and threats of funding cuts. Hold that thought. In countries where the state is all powerful, citizens and institutions are told what to think, how to act, and even what words they can and cannot use. Free thinkers who speak openly, who demand the right to assemble and peacefully protest on college campuses, city streets or public squares, face imprisonment or worse in regimes that will not tolerate dissent. In those places, survival means keeping your head down and your mouth shut. It is oppressive by design under iron rule from China to Russia. Society is cowed into conformity. Inalienable rights are not recognized. Hungary's and Turkey's decent into dictatorship quickly stripped away civil liberties, undermined the rule of law, clamped down on the press, commandeered legislative authority, weakened judicial independence, and seized control of public university systems. All red flags that signal the death of democratic self-determination. We can see democracy dying there, the capturing of institutions, the silencing of critics, the plundering of public assets by oligarchs bowing to corrupt authoritarians. But we still can't fathom it happening here, in America. Yet clearly, our democratic republic is in the throes of death as the wildly emboldened felon-in-chief and his oligarchic clique of enforcers aim fatal blows at our foundational values. The Trump administration is explicitly threatening to bring the full power of the state against institutions and individuals it doesn't like. It wants to extract revenge for old grievances, muzzle dissent and especially sow fear. Besides cruelty, paralyzing fear is the point of the administration dangling prosecutions, investigations, and financial ruin over select targets from the media to private law firms or political opponents to campus protestors and universities dependent on federal grants. How is this different than what Turkey and Hungary are doing to dominate and crush? Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati recently learned that they, and dozens of colleges and universities across the country, are being investigated by the federal government for alleged antisemitism tied to pro-Palestinian protests on campus. Both OSU and UC were also notified that they are under a second federal investigation for partnering with a graduate partnership program that focuses on helping students from diverse backgrounds pursue a business PhD. The small diversity project was low hanging fruit for the anti-DEI police in the Trump U.S. Department of Education which grabbed it as a pretext to accuse the schools, 45 in all, of using 'racial preferences' in education. This is a deliberate intimidation campaign by Trump and his billionaire kleptocrats to score points with a MAGA base that loves to bash universities as no-good bastions of liberalism. But it is also a dramatic escalation of heavy state power over academic institutions. The implicit punishment for OSU and UC — for participating in a program to promote the racial diversity of business school professors and for allegedly not doing enough to protect Jewish students during campus protests against Israel — is a devastating claw back of federal funding. The administration threatens to take federal money from schools that defy the Dear Leader on anything from DEI to transgender athletes in women's sports or student demonstrations Trump chillingly deems 'illegal.' Columbia University, once a hotbed of protests over the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, was an easy mark for the wannabe authoritarian eager to show the elite, Ivy League institution who's boss. The government yanked $400 million from Columbia then sicced immigration agents on a green-card-holding protestor (a permanent legal resident of the U.S.) before spiriting the Columbia student away from his pregnant American wife to a Louisianna detention facility where, uncharged with any crime save protesting, he remains. The Trump administration further demanded that Columbia meet a list of significant conditions, including changes to its admission and disciplinary rules, if it wanted its money back. Bringing the weight of the government down on academia with targeted hostility and financial extortion is meant to terrorize higher education institutions into anticipatory obedience. Ohio colleges and universities have already rushed to scrap anything that might promote dreadful goals like diverse student bodies, equal learning opportunities or inclusive environments where all are welcome. They fell like dominoes: Ohio State University, Ohio University, Kent State University, Miami University, Bowling Green State University, Baldwin Wallace University, Ashland University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Toledo, the University of Akron. Just days after Ohio University put this year's Black Alumni Reunion on hold out of an abundance of DEI caution, it did the same to an event in honor of Women's History Month at one of its satellite campuses. That's the fear factor at work. We've seen this kind of cowering conformity in dictatorial regimes where freedoms go to die. But never in Ohio or the United States. Until now. It's unbelievable. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
More than 700 people submitted opponent testimony against controversial Ohio higher education bill
Hundreds of students protested against Senate Bill 1 on Ohio State's campus on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Megan Henry, Ohio Capital Journal). More than 700 college students, faculty, and staff submitted opponent testimony against a massive Ohio higher education bill that would significantly change colleges and universities. Fourteen people testified against Ohio Senate Bill 1 for three hours during the Ohio House Higher Education and Workforce Committee meeting Tuesday morning. Committee Chair Tom Young, R-Washington Twp., enforced a hard stop at 12:10 p.m. 'If you pass this bill, you sow the seeds of a mass exodus of university students, leaving the economy, workforce, health, and reputation of the state of Ohio worse off than how you found it,' said Sabrina Estevez, an Ohio State University student. Senate Bill 1 would ban diversity and inclusion efforts, prevent faculty from striking, set rules around classroom discussion, create post-tenure reviews, put diversity scholarships at risk, shorten university board of trustees terms from nine years down to six years, and require students take an American history course, among other things. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Regarding classroom discussion, it would set rules around topics involving 'controversial beliefs' such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion. S.B. 1 would only affect Ohio's public universities. State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland, introduced S.B. 1, which passed the Ohio Senate last month. Those who testified Tuesday talked about the bill's strike ban, tenure review, collective bargaining, classroom discussion regulations, and the diversity and inclusion ban. 'S.B. 1 is a censorship bill,' said David Jackson, president of Bowling Green State University's American Association of University Professors chapter. 'The bill, full of contradictions, will leave stakeholders wondering: What can I say? What can't I say?' Jackson also talked about how tenure protects academic freedom. 'Professors with academic freedom are the best thing that students have available to them, because it causes universities and faculty to be innovative in terms of teaching and research,' he said. 'The chilling effect that would be caused … would be bad, not just for the faculty members, but for the students whom we serve.' State Rep. Josh Williams, R-Sylvania, asked many of those who testified about striking on campus. 'Why do you think that faculty at our at our public universities can threaten to hold back students from graduating or earning their degree simply to have it as a bargaining tool in your negotiations?' Williams asked. University faculty strikes are rare in Ohio. Youngstown State University workers went on strike for a few days in 2020 over pay disputes and faculty at Wright State University went on strike for almost three weeks in January 2019 over pay disputes and health care. 'It is the only power that organized labor has in a bargaining process,' Jackson said. 'While strikes are vanishingly rare … the existence of those nuclear weapons, if you will, makes the parties work together and solve the problems that their campuses face, and that's why strikes rarely happen.' Among public employees, first responders and corrections officers are not able to strike in Ohio. 'The thing in common that those professions have is public safety,' state Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, said while questioning Ohio Education Association Vice President Jeff Wensing. 'I don't believe that faculty members of higher institutions fall into the category of police and fire and protecting public safety,' Wensing said. S.B. 1 is already affecting Ohio universities. 'Qualified, talented faculty have decided not to put their name in the hat for a search at some of our institutions because of a fear of what kind of environment they will be coming into,' Jackson said. John Plecnik, an associate professor of law at Cleveland State University, theorized S.B. 1 came from a faculty member or an administrator from the University of Michigan. 'There'd be no greater way to damage Ohio State or Ohio's public universities,' he said. University of Cincinnati Undergraduate Student President Madison Wesley shared testimonies from concerned students. 'One such student, from Appalachia, fears that the ripple effects of this bill could make it harder for students like her to pursue an education,' she said. 'A pre-med student recently expressed fears that the implications of this bill could negatively affect the accreditation of Ohio medical schools and, by extension, their future career.' Wesley also talked about how the bill poses a threat to Ohio higher education. 'This will diminish the value of our degrees and make it harder to attract and retain top talent in our state,' she said. Ohio State Professor Erynn Beaton said S.B. 1 is 'pulled from the Florida playbook.' Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law in 2022 that affects tenured faculty and another bill in 2023 banning the state's public colleges and universities from spending money on diversity and inclusion programs. 'I personally know several faculty who have left Southern states due to the legislative environment,' Beaton said. Ohio State Associate Professor Ashley Hope Pérez said she used to look forward to her two sons attending public universities in Ohio, but not anymore. 'S.B. 1 undermines every Ohioan's right to an effective and complete education,' she said. 'It also endangers students' competitiveness in a rapidly changing professional landscape.' S.B. 1 has faced heavy opposition since being introduced in January. Hundreds of students, faculty, staff and alumni protested against the bill last week at Ohio State University. More than 800 people submitted opponent testimony against the bill when it was in the Senate committee. Ohio House Democrats bombarded Cirino with questions about his bill during last week's sponsor testimony. Follow Capital Journal Reporter Megan Henry on Bluesky. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
