Latest news with #Vopat
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Group aims to stop controversial law banning DEI at Ohio's universities before it takes effect
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A controversial law that would ban DEI at Ohio's universities is scheduled to go into effect this week — unless a grassroots movement begun by Ohio professors can stop it. 'Unfortunately, given how bad this bill is for faculty, students, and higher education in general, this was our only option,' Mark Vopat, president of Youngstown State's faculty union, said. Vopat is one of three professors at Youngstown State University driving a state-wide volunteer effort to pause Senate Bill 1 until voters can decide whether or not to pass it in November. Vopat and his colleagues are racing a June 26 deadline to complete the referendum process, which requires collecting 250,000 signatures and submitting them to the state before S.B. 1 goes into effect on Friday. This past weekend marked the final major push for signatures. EdChoice families hit first when public schools lack transportation funding Senate Bill 1 will ban diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at Ohio's public universities, and limit faculty union powers. Ohio allows laws to be challenged in the 90 days before they take effect, and Vopat said it seemed that was the only option. See previous coverage in the video player above. 'It was clear that the 1,500 instances of opposition testimony, hundreds of in-person testimony, and thousands of people protesting resulted in no changes to the bill,' he said. To get on the ballot, they must collect 248,092 valid signatures from Ohio voters — equal to 6% of participants in the last gubernatorial election. They must also collect as many signatures as equal to 3% of the last gubernatorial vote in 44 of 88 counties. However, training materials for the effort's petition circulators said the group is hoping for at least 425,000 signatures, as they expect not all signatures will be considered valid. Vopat said this last weekend marked the final push for petition drives, adding the 'No Kings' protests, Pride events and Juneteenth events were especially productive for getting signatures. He said although there may be some targeted breakout petition events this week, widespread collection will end by Monday to have time to prepare the submission to the state. The group is entirely made up of volunteers. In early May, Vopat and his colleagues created the Labor Education And Diversity Ohio PAC to fund the printing of petitions, but said they initially paid out of pocket for materials and a website. How to stay safe from firework-related injuries this summer Vopat said the hard work is important to stop the bill from going into effect, and to prevent similar bills in the future. 'We want to stop the government in its steps before its attacks reach K-12 and other unions,' the effort's website said. 'What happens to higher education is going to roll down to K-12 and outward to other labor unions.' Vopat said the anti-DEI provisions in S.B. 1 harm everyone, from eliminating sensitivity training to support veterans to creating a 'chilling effect' toward what can be taught in the classroom. He also said the law's mandatory civic education course is an overstep and a dangerous precedent, saying it was the first time he can recall the state mandating both a course and the content taught in it. Provisions like these make the group think the measure could reasonably fail at the ballot. This week, the group will gather its signatures so they can be submitted to the state for review. Vopat said Attorney General Dave Yost gave them until June 26 to submit the petition, one day later than they had originally thought. If the signatures are verified by the Secretary of State, it will go to the Ohio Ballot Board to place on the Nov. 4 ballot. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ohio professors submit 4,500 signatures to repeal controversial higher ed bill
Apr. 21—By Laura Hancock (TNS) COLUMBUS — Youngstown State University professors working to repeal a controversial higher education law submitted their petition and about 4,500 signatures to state officials Monday afternoon — kickstarting a long and expensive process of getting a referendum on the ballot. The group collected 4,500 signatures in about 10 days, said Mark Vopat, president of the Youngstown State Education Association. (The Columbus-headquartered Ohio Education Association is not involved in the referendum effort.) The professors needed at least 1,000 valid signatures of registered Ohio voters. They're aiming to get the referendum on ballots for the Nov. 4 General Election. Those initial 1,000 signatures are just the first hurdle in the process of adding the referendum to the ballot. The proposal will go through several administrative reviews before organizers can begin collecting hundreds of thousands of additional signatures they will need to put the question before voters. The group wants to repeal Senate Bill 1, which Gov. Mike DeWine signed March 28 and which goes into effect June 23. The new law bans diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at public colleges and universities, prohibits professors from striking, states professors can't "indoctrinate" students and requires all viewpoints to be considered during class discussion, among dozens of other requirements. Many Ohio faculty and students opposed the bill during legislative testimony and in demonstrations around the Statehouse, citing labor union changes to the potential of students with extremist views derailing a class discussion. Vopat said that before the group's website went live, people throughout the state were asking if they could gather petitioners, which he believes is a sign of how deeply unpopular SB 1 is. Many Ohioans link the Ohio legislature's desire to control higher education to President Donald Trump, Vopat said. This could give the referendum a boost. "It's almost a state version of what's going on in the federal government," he said, noting that Youngstown State recently lost 14 international students because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security revoked their visas. State Sen. Jerry Cirino, a Lake County Republican who sponsored the bill, has defended it in recent public appearances, saying state funding for public colleges and universities will be tied to compliance with the new law. "We are not kidding around. This law will not be ignored. It will be welcomed, and it will be implemented at our universities and community colleges," Cirino said last week at the City Club of Cleveland. Money could be a challenge for the group. A successful referendum campaign can cost millions just to get on the ballot, and then millions more for digital and broadcast advertising. The professors at this point don't have any well-heeled groups backing them, Vopat said. For referenda, petitioners have to submit the petition and signatures to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose in downtown Columbus. Within one day of that submission, the petitioners must submit a copy of SB 1 and their petition summary to the Ohio Attorney General's Office, also in downtown Columbus, according to an explanation of the process by the AG's office. Within the next 10 business days of receiving the petition, the Secretary of State's office must verify the petition signers are registered voters and their addresses on the petition matches that of their voter registrations, according to the Secretary of State's office. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost also gets 10 days to review the petition and certify whether he believes the summary to be a fair and truthful statement of the law to be repealed. In recent ballot initiatives, Yost has rejected summaries and petition titles. Then the Ohio Ballot Board, a group of elected and appointed officials, meets within 10 days to determine whether the referendum contains one repeal or more than one. After the Ballot Board meetings, the second round of signature-gathering can begin. The group would need just under 250,000 valid signatures statewide from at least 44 of Ohio's 88 counties. They would have to submit the signatures by the end of June to qualify for the November ballot. Many successful petition and referendum campaigns use paid signature-gatherers for this stretch of the campaign. That may not be the case for the professors. "That would be really nice if we had money to hire petition gatherers," Vopat said. "Right now, there's no plan to hire anyone." If those signatures are gathered and submitted, LaRose will work with local election officials to verify them. If enough valid signatures have been submitted, the referendum can proceed to the ballot. "When we started it, the whole idea to show everyone — other unions, the OEA, the (American Association of University Professors — Ohio chapter,) all the groups across Ohio, whether they're academic or not, that there is a groundswell of support for this," Vopat said. "That if we can start it, then other groups, other individuals will jump on board."
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Group launches 'Hail Mary' attempt to repeal Senate Bill 1, Ohio higher education overhaul
A group of Youngstown State University faculty knows the odds are against them collecting enough signatures to block Ohio's new higher education overhaul Senate Bill 1 at the ballot box. But no one else was trying. "Even if we can't necessarily do this ourselves, we need to start the process," said Mark Vopat, president of the Youngstown State University Chapter of the Ohio Education Association. So, they launched a website and plan to collect the initial 1,000 signatures needed to start a ballot effort. "In one sense, it's really a Hail Mary play." Vopat said Senate Bill 1, signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine on March 28, threatens the future of quality higher education in Ohio. The bill would ban diversity, equity and inclusion on campus, ban faculty strikes, prevent universities from taking positions on controversial issues, require syllabi to be posted online, among other changes. "I believe this bill was a solution looking for a problem," Vopat said. Sen. Jerry Cirino, the Lake County Republican who championed Senate Bill 1, said the faculty union is likely underestimating what it would take to mount a successful referendum. Cirino suggested professors would offer their students extra credit to collect signatures − a line he used previously to explain why students were protesting the bill. 'We would certainly expend lots of effort to defend the bill that we believe is the right bill," Cirino said. 'If this Youngstown faculty group wants to go head-to-head with me on this bill, bring it on.' Ohio voters can repeal most new laws using a process called a referendum, but there's a ticking clock: opponents must collect the required signatures within 90 days. That means the professors have until the end of June to collect 248,092 valid signatures, or 6% of the turnout in the last governor's race total. Referendums are extremely difficult to pull off. The last attempt was a well-funded effort to block a $1 billion nuclear bailout in House Bill 6. But signature collectors came up short amid unprecedented opposition, which the FBI would later reveal included an illegal pay-to-play scheme. The American Association of University Professors led the charge against Senate Bill 1 at the statehouse, but it isn't spearheading a referendum now. "We'd like nothing more than to see this bill repealed, but we also understand the resources it would take and hurdles that would have to be overcome to accomplish that," AAUP Ohio Conference Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't in good conscience commit to spearheading a campaign we're unable to fund. We certainly understand the desire of other groups and individuals to tackle this effort." The last successful referendum was in 2011 when Ohio voters rejected an anti-collective bargaining law championed by then-Gov. John Kasich. Vopat sees elements of Senate Bill 5 in this higher education overhaul. The bill bans faculty from striking and allows universities to fire tenured professors for poor performance. "I think this is a slow chipping away at labor rights across Ohio," he said. So, the Youngstown State faculty union is starting the ball rolling and hoping others join in, Vopat said. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that other people come on board." State government reporter Jessie Balmert can be reached at jbalmert@ or @jbalmert on X. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Group wants to put repeal of Ohio Senate Bill 1 before voters
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
YSU leaders respond to signing of Senate Bill 1
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — The measure known as Senate Bill 1 in Columbus has now been signed into law. It's expected to bring about sweeping changes to higher education across the state. For many, the big question now is, what does it all mean? 'And what are the guidelines by which institutions of higher learning are going to have to operate?' YSU President Bill Johnson said. Among other changes, Senate Bill 1 does away with programs focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion — known to many as DEI. It's caused widespread concern among students from other countries coming to universities like Youngstown State, where 1,200 are now enrolled. Johnson said those students will not lose their status. 'They went through the process legally,' Johnson said. 'We're firmly committed to ensuring that our international students know that.' But the changes also affect the way universities approve tenure for professors and prohibit faculty unions from going on strike. 'It's already stripped a number of our negotiating rights just by through the passage of this.. Then on top of that, there's a chilling effect in the classroom,' YSU OEA President Mark Vopat said. Vopat worries the changes may do away with scholarship programs created to help certain groups, as well as affect how instructors teach their classes. 'I think you're gonna see a lot of faculty across Ohio leaving for states that still have these protections,' Vopat said. Still, Johnsont believes there are too many unknowns. 'It would not be prudent to get out over the tips of our skis,' Johnson said. 'It's still a work in progress.' 'Which just begs the question, why would you pass a piece of legislation that is going to fundamentally alter the way a university is run without being clear?' Vopat said. For now, both sides are waiting for some answers. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
